Yoyo Dog

Since my great niece, Audrey is only three months old, I think I can post her Christmas present without spoiling her surprise.

I found this vintage pattern in my stash.



Everything I needed to make the yoyo dog was in my collection of fabric and notions.



I hope Audrey will like her new dachshund.

Millington Quilt Club November Meeting

At our quilt club meeting yesterday, Julie shared a quilt she made from scraps.



This is a quilt Cheryl made for Amy's stepson.



Cheryl has also been making American Girl outfits for her great nieces.

Sydney has been making chair covers for Christmas presents.

This is a photo of one of Sydney's Santa hat chair covers.

Jan made a couple of flannel baby quilts for Christmas for Kids, an organization which provides toys, hats, mittens, etc. for needy children.

Faith made this quilt for a friend who has been going through tough times.

Faith made this quilt for her friend who likes horses.

Connie's mother-in-law started a quilt for Connie and her husband's 25th anniversary before she passed away.

Fifteen years later...Connie has taken the pieces and made them into this quilt top.

Carolyn made the following three quilts for Christmas for Kids. Lucky kids who receive them in their package!

Mary's quilt has beautiful handwork around the center of the quilt.

This basket quilt is also Mary's. She hand embroidered the baskets and embellished them with beads.

Nance made these mittens using wool sweaters from Goodwill.

Nancy's grandchildren helped color this quilt top for thier new sibbling.

Nancy appliqued flowers on this beautiful trellis quilt.

Nancy made this quilt for a friend.

Diane made this quilt for a graduation present.

Viola made this pretty quilter's quilt. Her daughter, Julie quilted it.

Viola also made a number of table runners, this is one of them.

Jan made this quilt as part of a retreat.

Jan's mom made this table topper.

This wool felted bag was found at a resale shop!

Jan also made this pretty wool pillow.

Jeanann made this quilt for her grandson. She practiced using her embroidery machine on some of the squares.

Marlene made this table topper for a friend using vintage fabric which had belonged to the friend's mother.

Darlene has also been making mittens from old sweaters.

When Marlene asked if anyone knew how to fold a napkin to look like a Christmas tree, Darlene just happened to have a sample!

Darlene quilted this friendship quilt for the club.

Pat made this apron using a towel. The apron could also be used as an adult bib for someone in a nursing home.

Thanks to Linda, for taking notes while I took photos :)

Lucky Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my birthday. I had two packages in the mail.

Jenny sent this vintage birthday card. It is so cute, I think it may be even older than me. It has no price or manufacturer on the back.



Jenny knows I love Charming Tails so her package included this farmer mouse.



Jenny's box was also full of craft and sewing items. I noticed the owl fabric had been cut into.....




Well, the missing owl fabric is the backing on this gorgeous wall hanging. I had mentioned to Jenny that I thought an owl wall hanging would be a future project. Since I'm an idea person and don't often complete my plans, I'm glad Jenny made me this handsome fellow. Jenny has posted more photos on her blog.




My second package was from Coldwater Creek. Jenny had told Angela that she was making me the owl wall hanging. So Ang and Austin, who are in Spain, ordered me this cute set of owl salt and pepper shakers. I usually have 4 sets of salt and pepper shakers on the stove top ledge. We only use the plain glass ones and the others are decorative and change with the holidays. This dapper pair will be a neat addition.




Many thanks to my family and friends who made me feel special on my birthday.

Country Women Magazine

I have subscribed to Country Woman magazine for years. The magazine arrives bimonthly cover in protective plastic. Besides the magazine there are ads, requests to renew the subscription and sometimes a letter. I usually just pitch the extras with the plastic but yesterday I took the time to skim the letter:

I was outraged when I saw the third paragraph. Really, because they think they did a good job they are counting it as two issues! The magazine is only published bimonthly so that is taking away one-sixth of a subscription. I did call today and canceled my subscription! I have subscribed the many of the magazines in that group...Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking, etc. I wonder how many issues I lost because I didn't read the letters that came with the magazines.

Pumpkins

A year ago I bought this kit to make a pumpkin magnet. It was a quick project so I should not have put it off for so long.



The squares were ironed on to a grid printed on something similar to interfacing. Then the rows and columns were sewn. I did make a mistake on the leaves on top, if I make another pumpkin I'd leave them off completely.



After our club's Invitational I was thinking of what would make a nice table favor for next year...maybe a pumpkin pincushion? I tried a couple of different patterns I found online free to see how hard the project would be. Some took a little time but the pumpkin with the stick stem was a less than 30 minute project.

Art in Flushing

Two of my cousins have art shows in Flushing. Tom is showing his photography at Rye's Bakery. We were impressed not only with the photos but the charm of the old time bakery-coffee house.




My picture doesn't do justice to the size of these LOW FAT muffins. The bake goods we purchased were wonderful but I don't think they could be considered diet food.

Here are some of Tom's photos.

A few more below.

After visiting the bakery, we went to Fandangles Restaurant for a delicious lunch. My cousin Donna is one of the two artists showcases at Fandangles. Her work covers two walls of the restaurant.

I only took a photo of one of the walls...by the time I decide to take more pictures there were other customers sitting in front of the other wall.

This painting is the Clock Tower in Venice, Italy. Many of Donna's watercolors were scenes from the Middle East or Europe. I know she took a cruise there last fall so I'm sure her paintings are based on photos she took.

The painting below was Folk Dancers from Dubrounik, Croatia. I had to take a closeup of this painting so I could show it to my daughter,Angela, who vacationed in Croatia this summer.

My husband and I enjoyed our visit to Flushing, hoping Donna and Tom have more shows in the future.