Easter Eye candy

Happy Easter everyone! I figured we're all getting enough sugary sweets today..... so I decided to share some eye candy with you. These were taken at the Naples Botanical Gardens. We went there recently while my parents were visiting. This first pic is of the wall you see from the parking lot to the entrance and the blooming bougainvillea were just incredible. I just love the colors against the bright green wall.



These arrangements were hanging in the children's garden, depicting how one can recycle cast offs into planters - like these cute planted totes.

This large mosaic was a new addition to the garden and is just so striking and so quilty! Don't you think?
I wonder if the artist could have been inspired by a quilt?

I just loved the happy little group of flowers. I tried getting some butterfly pictures in the butterfly house but they were NOT cooperating.
But they were beautiful.

Oh-oh!  I snuck some sweets in here after all....
My dh commented at Christmas that I needed to make sugar cookies more often and so for Easter I made him some....of course he's nice and sharing them with me :)









This was a stone pillar of an arbor in the Carribean section of the gardens, I'm not sure what the vine is ... but it is such a beautiful shade of lavender.

I hope you all have an egg-stra special Easter, whether it's with a crowd or by yourself - Rejoice!

 John 11:25-26   Happy Easter!

swamp thing

I finally downloaded the pictures from my week of goofing off while my parents were here visiting and thought I would share some with you. I won't bore you with them all but I thought you may enjoy seeing a few.
I must say that I was inspired anew after getting out and playing tourist in my own town. I guess we all tend to get too comfortable in our surroundings and it's a good thing to view things through the eyes of a visitor for a fresh look at the world around us.

Let's head into the swamp......

I never tire of seeing these majestic cypress trees. (below) That's a small strangler fig that is wrapping itself around this cypress tree. This is in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. I love this place and we try to go a couple times a year at least. The scent of the swamp is so primordial and unique.

 

hmmm, is this where the swamp thing lives?????

 This snap was taken outside of Clyde Butcher's gallery in the Everglades.

Those are cypress knees that are sticking up out of the water like little castles.

 

The snap below is of a root from a large strangler fig. 

It reminded me of a concrete curb, don't you think?

Gator bait????
This was one of about 5 alligators that had come out into the sun to warm up from the cool morning. This guy was almost a bit too close for comfort but perhaps he had already had breakfast or was still too cold to be very active. Lucky for us.


On our way back to town we had to stop and take a snap of this post office. I've gone past it many times. This is the smallest (still operational)  post office in the United States. It is in Ochopee FL.
Isn't it adorable???

I hope you enjoyed this short excursion into the swamp.
Later this week I'll share a few vibrant scenes from the botanical garden visit along with the new giveaway announcement....finally.

Button Thursday - belly button

I have been making - and eating - way too many treats around here lately,
So today's button is my belly button. I embellished it with a fun button of course.

Other button news.....
The Heritage Button show takes place this weekend in Sunnyvale CA , if you happen to be there.
Want a fun button project? Check out this post at Design Sponge. I love this idea.
Want to shop for some unique button accessories? Check out this etsy shop!

I hope to catch up with my blog (and facebook) in the next few days. My parents were here visiting for 10 days and as much as I love to share with you and hear from you, I just didn't want to spend the time on the computer while they were here. I only get to see them twice a year, so we make our visits count!
We did all kinds of fun stuff and I will get some pics up this weekend but tonight we had more guests from out of town over for dinner! 

seeing red

It's button-button Thursday already! Gosh that was a quick week.
Well dear friends, during this weeks journey into the button tin - red caught my eye and I found a tresaure trove of glorious red buttons.
I love seeing the buttons with little pieces of thread still looped through them. You know they were sewn onto something at one time. Did one fall off and never get sewn back on, or was it taken off when the garment was worn out and discarded? Maybe it was even passed on in the button tin from the grandmother or mother-in-law. There are some buttons that show a lot of wear. They must have been used on a much favored garment that got a lot of use.
Then, there are the buttons that still have the metal "staple" that holds them onto the rack cards you buy them on. You know these were never used. Why not? Was it a blouse or dress started and never finished? Were they purchased for something particular in mind or just as a whim? Heaven knows I have buttons in my own button box that fall into all of those categories!!!
So many buttons - so many stories...........

Button-button Thursday - out of shape???

No not you, my buttons.
As I was enjoying a few meditative moments digging through my button boxes I found very few that weren't round. With modern buttons, especially novelty buttons,  the sky's the limit when it comes to odd and varied shapes. Now, I don't profess to having an extensive assortment of button styles, (most are probably form the 30's to present, although there are a few that may be older).
But these are the few that were, in my little button world - out of shape. They are all kind of interesting, I think that I like the green ones and the mother of pearl the best. Are odd shape buttons a more recent phenomenom or do I just have boring buttons?

Whilst browsing about online I found a couple of button sites that may interest you. The Button Emporium is an online shop that offers an oodle of new buttons in all sorts of colors, styles, and "out of shape" buttons too. This next site makes me want to hop a plane to New York city today! I have a feeling that a visit to this adorable shop Tender Buttons would dramatically add to my "collection".
If you are out traveling perhaps you'll want to stop and see Dalton Stevens the Button King in  Bishopville South Carolina. Here's a you tube clip to check out - Button King.
Well, after watching that clip, I feel better knowing that I have a long, long, long way to go to before anyone can stick me with the moniker - button queen.

button - button Thursdays

Who's got the button?
Do you like buttons?
Do you collect them, use them, display them?
Do you have oodles of buttons or just a modest few?

I love a good button collection. When my mother-in-law passed away about 9 years ago I inherited her button boxes. I have one tin from her with mostly white and mother of pearl buttons, and then a small cigar box that is filled with all sorts and sizes and snaps etc.

Then recently, sadly, my friend Marti's mother passed away and Marti generously gifted me her mothers button tin. I am still delving into the tin and discovering new buttons each time.



I am going to come up with a unique project for some of these fabulous buttons so they don't languish their existence away in a tin.

In the meantime I am going to declare Thursdays here "Button Blog Thursday" and share all things buttons with you. This weeks button blog is for Marti...... with a big button thank you!

Valentine Giveaway winner

Thank you one and all for leaving such endearing comments and for putting up with the extra task of finding the pink thistle. You are all so sweet and worthy of winning but alas the winner for this Hello Valentine giveaway is the Happy Cottage Quilter!
CONGRATULATIONS!
I will be e-mailing you so I can get your address to send out your prize.
Also of note, I will be having a guest blogger on the blog this Saturday and I hope you will stop and check it out. Her blog topic is "you inspire me" and I am looking forward to seeing her post. So stop by Saturday sometime and have a look-see.
I am also working on a free pattern for you to download from my website and I will let you know when it's up and ready. It should be soon, but this week has turned out to be crazy busy.

100 and counting!

Wow, I just realized that this is my 100th blog post!
I can't believe I had that much stuff to share with you, but it has been a lot of fun and I will keep trying to share things to bring a smile to your face or to inspire you to create.

I missed my blogiversary, but I was able to take note of this "milestone" thanks to blogger's data.
This calls for a celebration of some sort doesn't it.
I know!
How about a guest blogger?

If you have a blog and want to blog on one of my next posts leave me a comment and I will link up the guest blog.


(If you are looking for the post to comment on for the giveaway it's the Jan 27th post, you have until Feb 3rd to comment.)

OH - so cute Doohdles

Check out these adorable rubber stamp sets by Jenny Doh of Stampington & Co.
I just thought they were so sweet and fresh I wanted to share them with you. They would be great to use on wedding shower or birthday invitations.
I love the postcard made with the stamps...check out the stitching accent too.

inspiration

I have finished another project out of the overflowing project jar!
You remember the jars don't you? (May 2009)
Well, I was finally inspired to make my inspiration board. I guess I had been putting it off because I really don't have a wall for it right now. But I really wanted to get one put up. So I went and bought one of those over the door hooks, and hung it on the door that goes from my office to the studio.
I was just going to cover it with a neutral fabric but when I came across this piece of damask I decided some simple thread painting would be fun and add some interest to it.

All I did was roughly stitch around the leaf shapes that were on the damask. I wasn't real fussy about it. I used a variegated thread, Sulky Blendables in fact. I really like the way it turned out and because I used a light color thread it is a subtle effect.




I did decide however that I wanted a bit more color on my board. So, I paired it up with this great green and blue batik print and then I added an orange print pocket to hold things that I couldn't pin on the board. BTW, my board is just heavy corrugated cardboard that I covered in cotton batting first.
I wrapped the batting to the back and hot glued it and then did the same with the fabric. I also hot glued on a length of Grosgrain ribbon to hang it form the door hook.
I found some really cute little glass push pins from an Etsy shop (kimiko611.etsy.com)to add some fun.
All in all I am happy with my new board...now I just have to dig out all my inspirations to pin on. I have a feeling I didn't make it big enough :)

What size is your inspiration board, and do you have more than one?

So much more than a card

My friend Barb crafted this card to send me after showing her the GreenCraft magazine. When I pointed out the project I liked with the cardboard flowers.... look what arrived in the mail just days later! Isn't it adorable? It now has a home on a shelf in my studio. One day when I get my new inspiration board made (LOL) it will move there. Along with my mom, Barb is the queen of handmade cards. Of course these creations are so much more than a card. They are little pieces of art and expression. Made to be shared and then of course coveted and cherished by the recipients. Hmmm, sounds a bit like quilting doesn't it?

Decisions, decisions

Goodness it's been a busy month, but productive. One of my BF's came over for a Fearless blonde quilting lesson. She is a superb hand quilter, but has not really taken the time to learn any machine quilting. Happy to say, I think she went out the door a Fearless Blonde machine quilter and if she takes to machine quilting like she did hand quilting OMG look out!



Wednesday I had a small group over for lunch to chat and giggle and celebrate a birthday. Ellen turned...... well I'll never tell. Anyway, take a look at this adorable little cake! It was as good as it looks. Happy birthday Ellen!



While my friends were here, I started getting opinions on.....paint colors.
Oh yes, that HUGE decision. We wallpapered our kitchen years ago and after the paper was up we didn't like it. Oh well. So now we are finally going to tear it off and paint!
I picked up a few paint chips the other day. I want some color this time and thought the aqua's go nicely with the wheat yellow counter tops and the terracotta floor tiles. When I get a chance I will pick up a couple of sample jars and paint some larger "chips".


I figured it would be a good indoor project for hubby & me since it's so hot and steamy outside.
I'll probably go through another stack of paint chips before I decide, hmmmmmmm, what do you think?


I have also been working away at my migration piece. LOL.
It's about ready to be quilted, I just need to decide on some placement issues, hmmmmmmmmm.
Decisions, decisions.

Morning coffee, BFF's & zentangles

My morning coffee even tastes better in my new coffee mug that I got from one of my BFF's.
Don't you just love it !!! A few of us BF's were "chillin'" at Barnes & Noble one Saturday morning and Cathi came back to the table with this adorable mug for me. She said she just had to and I'm so glad she did. She also told us about zentangles. Have you heard of them?
These are so cool and so fun. As soon as I got home I was cutting paper and doing zentangles.
The site explains it much better than I do but it's basically doodling but within a specified space (3-1/2" square) and is quite meditative and inspiring at the same time. The gallery picture on the site are stunning and so not like my first ones you see here. It's something I will enjoy doing to relax and also as design exercises. Beware ~ I think these could be habit forming.

Darlee's Jar

OMG, Darlee sent me a picture of the project jar she made. I love it ~ and just take a look at her perfect notes to put inside! I like the coffee break note she has all set to go in the jar. I am so happy that she was inspired to make this for herself and thanks for sharing Darlee. If anyone else made a project jar e-mail me a JPEG (400 x 400 or less) and I'll post it.
And Cathi, to answer your question about the quilt pictured in the last post; that's not my migration challenge, that's my Bar Nine pattern but I'm so glad you like it. I'm laughing at the thought that you think I actually started my challenge ~ silly girl.
Ann, I am happy that the Parmesan Potatoes were a hit at your house. I have yet to post the Macs & cheese recipe my friend Marti gave me. Watch for it soon.

Quilt-a-month

Recently during an out to lunch with some of my BFF's we got to talking about wanting to play around with some new quilting techniques and doing something "outside of the box".
So I tore some paper strips and wrote down 5 different themes. We decided we'd pick one out of the "hat" and make a small quilt by July 1st. I know, I know, many quilters can whip out an assignment like this in a day, or a week at best. Well, what can I say, we just didn't want that pressure stifling our creativity ~ LOL
So we decided we could handle a quilt-a-month. The "theme" or inspiration that got picked out of the hat for this months quilt is migration.

If I can talk my friends into it, I will post their quilts here as well as mine when we finish them.
I better get busy, but first I need to step outside and pick a few gardenias. Our tree is blooming and I am loving it.

Well, I decorated my project jar and got to thinking...
Maybe I need 2 project jars. One for around the house projects and one for the studio.
Heaven knows I have enough projects for 2 jars at least!
So I grabbed another jar and decorated it. This time with some of the Bamboo felt I have.
I still need to decide which will be my studio jar and which the household jar. Guess I'll flip a coin.
I cut up some paper strips from hot pink and bright orange and started writing my projects on the strips of paper.




Oh my gosh, I'm going to be busier than I thought. I did put some fun things in though, like hand quilting, hand appliqué, going shopping, napping... no I didn't put napping in, although I was tempted. Knowing that I have a chance to pull out something fun to do from time to time I am hoping that I won't shy away from my jars.
You know, the old carrot and the stick routine.
At this point my studio jar has more in it than my household jar... hmmm, shows you where my priorities are at this point in time.



Now to the rules. They are actually quite simple.
1. When you have a chunk of time and you can't settle on a course of action, pick a project from the jar.
2. If you don't like what you picked, write your initials on the paper and put it back in the jar and pick another.
3. you can only do this once.
4. If you pick out a project that you had rejected (hence, initialed) once before you can't put it back.
That's it.

Thanks to my mom, my jars are ready and I'm going to give it a whirl and see if I can whittle down my list one project at a time.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Now the real trick is to prevent your other family members from adding to your jar.
I better hide the pink and orange paper.

The Jar

As my mom & I got to talking about the project jar we threw around a few ideas. Such as....
what size jar should it be? My jar should be ginourmous but I decided on a Cheese Whiz jar.
(Yes Cheese Whiz, I'll post the yummy recipe that uses it.)
Then of course you can't just have a plain old jar sitting around. You want it to be enticing so you'll want to go pick out a project. That's the whole idea right? Then too, you have to decide what to write your projects on. If you have a pretty jar you're going to want pretty paper too. I've already laid out a few to choose from. What do you think?
So, back to the jar......I have my jar and have decided to decorate it hmmmm.
I pulled out my fabric CD ( Push-button Prints), chose a print (this one is called "Nexus"),
pulled out some printable peel and stick fabric, some trim and voila, here's my enticing new jar!



Now then, I was asked about the rules. Yes, there are rules...........and more!

The Project

Back in March when my parents were visiting, my mom and I were discussing all the wanna do projects that tend to add up in our lives,
and yes, don't forget the don't wanna do projects too.

I don't know about you, but on rare occasion I will find myself with a nice chunk of un-spoken for time. A half a day with no deadlines, no errands, no routine cleaning or laundry to be done, and I say to myself "this would be a great time to............ and that's where I get stuck.
I have so many choices of things I could do that I just can't settle on one and before you know it - poof - the day slips away.
Well, mom & dad to the rescue!. After they left, I found my solution. There it was, sitting on the dresser in the guest room right where they left it ..... the project jar!
The note inside said "call home"
The idea is simple, put all your projects in the jar and when you have a chunk of time pick one project and do it.
Sounds simple enough but after calling my mom things kinda got a bit more complicated.....

April 15th

Gosh April 15th has come and gone and I popped my tax return in the mail with hours to spare!
Actually I got to the post office around lunch time and beat the crowds LOL
Such is the life of a procrastinator and also why you haven't heard anything from me the last few days. I have also been finishing up yet another in the series of BFF (best friends forever) quilts.
I'll post the update Thursday or Friday for you to see. In the meantime here's a pic of the yellow tabby tree blooming outside the studio. The rain we had the other day has dislodged some of the blooms, but there's still plenty to enjoy. Thanks to everyone that stopped by during the studio tour. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed taking the tour myself. It was nice to see other studios and to get new ideas for organizing. I will post my progress in trying to organize the rest of my studio from time to time so feel free to pop in again any time. Thanks again and many thanks to our studio tour hostess Marguerita at QuiltNews and her adorable bunny - Bunny.

Naples Quilt Show

Congratulations to EVERYONE that entered a quilt in our Naples Quilt Guild Stitches in Time Quilt Show. It always takes place on or around Valentines Day and so usually our spouses tend to be slightly ignored for a good part of the 3 days of the quilt show and show set-up. My husband, being the sweet hubby that he is, takes it all in stride and is just happy that I am able to immerse myself in all that is quilts during this much anticipated event. Our guild has an amazing pool of highly talented quilters of the traditional and non-traditional sort. It makes for an extremely pleasing mix of quilts on display. This years show we had 190 quilts on display. My favorite was one made by my friend Jessie. We've all seen her working on it throughout the year and at last it was done and hanging in the quilt show and.... sporting a first place blue ribbon besides! it is a string pieced quilt and she used all Kaffe Fasset's fabrics. I think it's absolutely stunning. Jessie made it for her sister, what a lucky sister!


Here is Sandra next to her star quilt that she worked at so dilegently to get done in time and she did it! I wish it were mine. This huge fabulous scrap quilt was made by my friend Aloyse and I can't believe she had that many scraps as this is not her first scrappy quilt, her scrap box obviously was even more of a behemoth than mine.

This next quilt is a small innovative quilt depicting birch trees was made by Veronica the chair of this years quilt show and I just love it, as did the judge. She was also the winner of Best of Show with this spectacular innovative quilt called "High Humidity", appropriate for Florida, sorry it is so out of focus, I think I was jostled in the crowd. I wish I would have gotten a close up picture, the thread painting on this quilt is phenomenal.


I should have taken more pictures but I was too busy really looking at the quilts and chatting with friends and shopping the vendors. My friend Mary had a vendor booth at the show. Her shop is an online store giftsforquilters.com and she carries all sorts of really adorable "gifty" items for quilters and knitters too. That's Mary sitting down, and Lillian ( friend and helper) standing. One of the highlights of our quilt show is the Mini Quilt Auction, guild members make miniature quilts that are then auctioned off and the proceeds are donated to Breast Cancer Research. We are fortunate to have found a hysterically funny, kind, and talented auctioneer that donates his time and energy each year. He not only brings in great proceeds during the auction but keeps us laughing through the entire event.


I could go on and on about the quilt show but yikes - I have to go get caught up on things since I was out goofing off at the quilt show the last few days. Did I mention that dust is also my nemisis? Can't wait until the next quilt show.