Wonderful Washington

I'm back from a wonderful jaunt down to Sumner, Washington, to visit my youngest sister. On the way down I stopped in Snohomish to visit a couple of my favorite shops. First was "The Speckled Hen". They sell all the country stuff I love plus fabrics.

Here's a picture of the downstairs room.

After that, I stopped at "Cin-a-mon Stik"--another great shop.

Wish we had stores like this close to home in Canada! Maybe I'll have to open one. Hmmm.

Then it was off to my sister's place. Her collection of prim stuff is amazing. I took a couple of pictures of her house to give you an idea.

Don't you love what she did with this crib-size bedspring?

On Friday we stopped at a shop in Sumner where she used to work, called "Folk Art Gatherings". I brought along a few samples of things I've made and the shop owner is going to sell them on consignment! Here are pictures of some of them.

And the front of the shop.

If you're ever traveling through Washington state, make sure and check these shops out.

Till next time!

New Treeskirt Pattern for Christmas

I know, I know, we just finished Christmas and we're so ready for spring! But I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at my new treeskirt pattern before I add it to my website. It's called, "Home for the Holidays" and is made up of pieced houses, appliqued snow and stars, and decorated trees. What do you think?

I'm so excited--tomorrow I'm driving down to Puyallup, WA, to visit my youngest sister. Lots of wonderful shops to visit along the way so I'll do my bit to stimulate the economy. Can't wait!

Wonderful Wool

I got such a nice surprise this week--two bolts of wool arrived on my doorstep from my distributor! So yesterday was spent dying some of it and I thought I'd share the results with you. The natural color on the bottom is the original. Aren't the colours yummy?

Now I can add them to my website and start making kits up for some of my new patterns. What fun!

Rainy Days and Mondays

I don't know if it's the cold, dreary weather we've been having or if it's just one of my life cycles but it's been awhile since I've been really inspired to design something new. I guess we all need those down times, right? But it's not so bad 'cause then I get a chance to work on other patterns I've been collecting but never seem to have the time to do. So here's a couple of projects I finished recently.

I was organizing (i.e. rearranging) the clutter in my studio and found these stitcheries I'd made using a Buttermilk Basin (www.buttermilkbasin.com) pattern called "Saltbox Village Through the Year." I'd finished them awhile ago and had thought of combining them in a wallhanging but couldn't decide on a design. I looked through a book of patterns called "Rainbow Cottage" by Lynette Anderson (www.lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com) and when I saw the wallhanging called "Cottage Sampler" I knew that was the setting I wanted. So I borrowed her colour scheme and idea of 9-patch blocks with the hearts stitched in the center of each and this is the final result. I handquilted around all the stitchery blocks and I love how it turned out. The stitchery blocks are tea-dyed but it's not as dark or yellow as in the picture. It's raining outside (again!) so I had to take the picture indoors.

Here's a close-up of the December block.

The second project I finished was this "House on the Square" pattern by Jacqueline Paton Designs. The houses are tiny--just 2" square and the pattern called for the doors and windows to be stenciled but I decided to make them out of felted wool, along with the chimneys and stars, and whipstitch them on. I finished it off with handquilting. Again, it's not as dark as the picture shows.

Here's a close-up.

I think that's all for today! Time to make a yummy dessert for my quilting buddies who are coming over tonight.

Whistler Days

Hi all!

I've just returned from a wonderful mini-vacation in a beautiful corner of BC. My friend Meg invited me to join her in Whistler (site of next year's 2010 Winter Olympics) for a few days and I happily accepted. This beautiful resort town is about a 3 hour drive from where I live. I'm no skier (or any type of athlete for that matter) but it's also a great place for shopping, amazing restaurants and fun pubs, and spectacular scenery--a perfect girlfriends getaway. Of course we also brought our stitching along for evenings in front of the fireplace!

The drive to Whistler.

Whistler Village.

This shop sells only cow-related stuff!

The view from our condo balcony.