Doors, both open and closed, are a part of life.

The first door was near a little garden. You could tell in this area that the season was fall and the growing season was ending. Then, a few yards further down the way, the closed door at the end of the arbor was caught in the sunlight and shadows. This part of the garden was also being visited by a little girl with her parents. You could tell by the size of the mother that the little girl was soon going to be a big sister and the parents where letting her enjoy the afternoon of being the one and only. Her laughter and playing with her dad filled the arbor with so much life. Made me think of my daughter and her countdown to baby two's arrival and the energy she is being surrounded by from her first daughter. I can't wait to bring Lucy to the garden so she can wonder and wander and giggle and laugh and touch and smell the beautiful flowers.

Spring

This lovely lady was standing in a grove of trees serenely waiting for me to stop and sit on the stone bench and enjoy her peaceful world. I went for a walk in the garden to find inspiration for the floral project I am working on that merges yo-yos and wrapped cord.

Quilts in the garden - next weekend at Omaha's Botanical Gardens

Today I explored Omaha's Botanical Gardens - Laurtizen's Gardens - in anticipation of next weekend's big quilting event. I took a picture of the beautiful quilt being raffled at the garden. It was my first walk through the gardens but most definitely will not be the last time I visit. The walk on the trails and the unexpected surprises around each corner made me happy. The next time I go, I am taking my sketch pad and revisiting a beautiful terra cotta statute entitled Spring. The English garden and the water garden were my favorites. The afternoon was filled with soul-food. Hope to see you there next weekend.

Pieces of me ...

The right-side picture is a good shot of what the pieces look like before them become the character. Each snowbowl has a character 'inside' him so I just watch to see what personality trait is the most evident. That is the part I love the best.

Terri's snowballs

Meet the guys I spent the day with today. I turned the snow bowls last night and left the fun stuff for today. Using bits of yarn and pom poms I started making the stocking hats. Same principle as the the snowbowl but instead of going in circles I "stacked" the fabric-covered cord forming the cap as I went. The eyelash yarn gave the cap a sense if whimsy.

Herby heads to his new home....

The flash caught the white and makes him look startled. Either that or he saw the box I plan on shipping him in. So far, during his short life in my sewing room, he has had free range. He perches on my antique sewing machine in front of the window and watches the squirrels play outside. This has been one truly spoiled snowman. Before he leaves my home for Helen's, I believe I need to give him a nose job. Either way, I promised him I would give him a few air holes and a good book to read on his trip. I christened him Herby (in honor of the Nebraska Football Team's masket) then learned they lost today. Drats!

Pieces of Me

Helen's Snowman is finally finished and ready for his journey to her home. Tonight, I wrapped the cord for the six snowbowls heading to Texas and tomorrow will finish up the three snowbowls heading to the nice ladies at my doctor's office.

At the Guild meeting on Tuesday night, I offered to teach basketmaking at the Lauritzen Garden's event on November 14th. That has motivated me to wrap up what I have on my to-do list so I can focus on getting ready for the Garden Event.

My sewing room has been rearranged and my organizational efforts are coming together. I am always amazed at the amount of fabric I have and the limited amount of time I have to work with it.

As I write this, I have a lady bug crawling around my desktop. I believe ladybugs are an indication of good luck when found in the home. I am hoping there is more fact than myth to that. More about my life-changing events later. This weekend is all about creating and enjoying the process.

Take care,

Elaine

I can 'dish' it out - but can I take it?

Like the big pumpkins which gave over to the idea of little pumpkins, so did the snowman. The big snowman are labor intensive and fickle. You think you have a good idea forming and the snow just isn't packing right. So like any Nebraska kid who can't get the snow to hang together for the best snowman in the yard, you decide to go sledding.

This little guy seems more my style and will more than likely have a few snow bowls traveling with him to Elgin for the Craft Fair.

Snowman mania ... latest design

Meet Cartman! I have an order for a snowman and the flakes just free-formed into Cartman.

Waste not - want not ...

What is it about a box of fabric swatches that makes you think 'ooohhhh, I can make something with that!' I had just such a brain cramp at an auction last summer. I bid on a small tote filled with 1 1/2" swatches of a polyblend. When I was repackaging them for storage (yes, it was a short-lived enthusiasm), I noticed no two swatches were alike. The box was closed and the intention to make something with them was abandoned.

Flash forward to a year later and I am needing a break from designing for the craft fair... the swatches were there and the need for something mindless was great.

First, trimming off the pinked edges. (sorry vaccum-that was a nice mess of fuzzy stuff on the carpet).

Then squaring each swatch to a 1 1/2" square took some time.

Yes, the finished square is the postage stamp size of 1".

Stay tuned for the next post on this project. It will be a delayed gratification because I can only do 32 squares at a time before I start to doubt my sanity.

It takes as long to sculpt the stem and leaves as it does to wrap the basket.

My goal is to turn out a basket a night. Tonight the focus was on scultping stems and leaves. This little guy has given me a whole new appreciation for working in miniature.

Pumpkin, pumpkin

OK, last night when I finished a full-sized pumpkin basket, I was left with a 10' cord piece and a few strips of fabric. Faced with a waste not-want not dilemna, this little pumpkin dish was thought out.

Origami Fabric Stars

These little guys start out as -5- 2" squares of fabric. When they are folded, unfolded, then folded again, they become little stars. Fun little stars...

Fall Festival - October 2 in Elgin, NE

The annual craft fair is coming up on October 2, 2010. Getting ready for it every year is always poetry in procrastination. After the Fall Festival I have the best intentions to get with the program right away and decide what I am going to do. After that insanity passes, and the reality of the busy holiday season hits, that need to get ready goes away. This year is no exception to the rule. A few weeks ago I decided to make pumpkins and snowmen and then saw some star origami ornaments that looked pretty interesting. Thus, I began the race to get as much done as I can in the shortest amount of time imagineable. The annual preparation for the Fall Festival...never changes.

Here are some of the pieces that will be coming with me. After this post, I have a date with my sewing machine to make the hat I need for my little snowman and then start another...

Enjoy the preview!

My big basket of fabric which helps create my little baskets of coiled fabric.

Baskets, baskets and a few more baskets....

After making over 100 little baskets - I had to make a big basket! The top two baskets (with the cherries) are random fabric and allowed me to enjoy the full process of bringing the sides of the baskets up and curving them in. These two still need handles and will be taken to the craft show in Elgin in October.

This big fella is my ode to pumpkin. Last year I made a pumpkin, a good sized pumpkin complete with a sculpted stem. It remains one of my fabric baskets.

Wrapping it up with friends...

Last night I tried again to deplete my overabundance of 1" fabric stripes with the help of three friends. After dining on delicious pizza and enjoying some good wind-down conversation we all gathered around Kandi' dining room table in the quaintest home. Its large with great rooms that have a history that envelopes you when you come in the front door. Her home reflects her love a quilting and you would be hard pressed not to find a beautiful quilt to look at and admire.

We set up our machines and started wrapping cords to make baskets. The magic of the evening resulted in Becky finishing her basket which was composed of lovely shadows of purple. Then Judy finished her basket made with burgundy and green fabrics. Kandi finished her first basket and went right into her second basket. When I left at nearly midnight, it was plain to see she was hooked and would be going to work bleary-eyed the next day.

I brought my camera to record the projects and their progress but never thought to pull it out.

Thank you Kandi for hosting, Becky for welcoming and helping me get all my 'stuff' ready and Judy for her stories about General Dodge and her volunteering at the Dodge House. You inspire me.

I posted from the bottom up.

Enjoy the story from the bottom to the top picture.

When I worked with a piece of fabric that told a story on its own, I just added a few pieces to compliment it.

Christmas in the Manager was another attempt at the thread caligraphy. Where the bear came to life, in this one the donkey and the cow took on a mind of their own. Fortunately, neither Baby Jesus nor Lucy seemed to mind the manger animals looking a bit odd.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas was a fun pocket to make. The sketch on the pocket was a handmade drawing of the bear on the cover of the book. I had just taken a class in thread caligraphy and found the fun of using my satin stitch feature on a 45 degree angle. The open eye is a shiny black button. The pocket is a soft, fluffy cotton flannel to mimic the snowy landscape. When Lucy is looking for her bear book, it appears the bear is waking up just
enough to greet her.

Christmas in July. No - that is just how early you have to start to get 24 book pockets made before Thanksgiving rolls around. Lucy's Christmas books are arrayed on her parents' couch so I could show my sister-in-law, Bobbi, what my version of this very special project looks like.

As I had written earlier on my blog, this project began when my sister, Pat, had her first grandchild. She made 24 pockets, each with its own Christmas story book inside for her grandson, Joseph, to read. One book each night was to be selected to help countdown the 24 days to Christmas.

This was over 14 years ago and it was an idea I knew I was going to borrow for my grandbabies when they arrived. My kids were too young to think of marriage much less children at that time. Seven years past and it was Margaret's turn to become a grandmother and she made her first granddaughter, Klaire, a set. [She has since then made four full sets; one for each of her grandchildren.]

Another seven years came to pass. You would think I would have been buying Christmas books all along to get a goodly supply of all types of Christmas stories. Not. When my daughter and son-in-law announced that my first grandchild would be here in March of 2009, I was sure I was going to make a set. Unlike Pat's and Margaret's that were constructed of felt, mine are made from quilted blocks.

This is how the process goes at this grandma's house. ....

A tisket, a tasket, a pretty little basket....

It starts with an idea. A small fabric token to recognize the hardwork of our guild volunteers at the 32nd annual quilt show. I call them 'thread baskets' and have started the daunting task of creating 200 baskets.

Thread baskets start with a length of clothesline cord, a neverending supply of fabric, a glue stick, a clothespin and, of course, my sewing machine. It helps if the coffee pot is on and the television is playing in the background.

New projects underway --- posting pictures tonight of the baskets I am 'throwing' and the book bags I have in the works. Check back!

Baby Medley's Quilt

Beth and Bill chose a zoo theme for their nursey. The quilt top is finished and ready for the quilting to begin.