Bags and packages and buckets...

Apparently I'm not good at saying "Thank You."  On Saturday when two friends from my current bee group came for a play date, Erika gave Kelly and me each a little bag that she'd made.  Check it out--a pretty little bag! 

Open it up to discover, Yay!, a mini-charm pack and thread wax. How sweet is this?!  Yes, I do like it all.

Check out her very well-made gathers.  And the fabric!  Could a seamstress like it more? 

That was Saturday, then today I received this in the mail.  Of course, it didn't look like this: I played with the picture to remove some information.

I like packages.  Especially when I'm surprised by them.  I'd assumed that the Michael Miller Co. had run out before they got to me.  I guess they didn't. 

So I opened the package and found--ta da!

Michael Miller's Glitz 

After a little photo session with all the fun things, I decided to get some work accomplished.  I cleaned.  First, the refrigerator.  Oh no, I do not have photos of that!  You would not want to see the science experiments that were going on.  I will say, though, that when the in-laws came by, my mother-in-law complimented the clean fridge, but that's all you're getting.

After all the pats on the back I figured I was on a roll and should go into the studio, where the scrap pile was almost as high as the laundry.  I tackled the scrap pile.  Piles of yellow, tan, and green, meant a fairly well-kept studio.
    

I even put them away, something I never do with laundry! Wait for it, yes!  I did return the buckets to their rightful places in the cabinet.  Another pat on the back!

What have you done lately that deserves a pat on the back?

Quilters' Play Date

I've met a couple of quilters online by joining first the Louisiana Traveling Quilt Bee.  Soon after I joined the Bee Great Quilting Bee.  I've already finished the quilts from those bees and written about them: you can read about the resulting quilts by clicking on the title links. And here.



Of course, there's lots of emailing and chatting when you're in a bee.  After all, someone has to keep track of what has happened and what is going on.  During one of those conversations, I decided to invite my bee mates over for a play date.  Two ladies took me up on my offer, and on Saturday I had company over. 


Except I never really considered them company in the formal sense of the word.  I felt that I already sort of knew them since we've been chatting and sewing together for a while.  But, we had never met in person. I did stalk them on Facebook, but I assume they stalked me, too. Isn't that what everyone does?  

So, on Saturday Kelly and Erika arrived. We hugged and said hello and visited a bit.  Uhm, a while.  Actually, we talked a lot! but we made a plan--work on the July block for our bee queen, have lunch, work on individual projects and share quilts along the way.

Good plan!  Except the blocks were harder than we thought.  And we got confused.  The directions (I've decided) were written with two choices but that's not clear.  So we started with one option and followed directions right into option two, which cut fabric that had been cut correctly following directions in option one.  Arrgh.  Don't be fooled by the smile in this picture. It was stressful at times. In the end, we figured it out. 

I'm using the term we loosely, though.  I did no math.  And I didn't pick up the cutter or the clutter.  I just sewed.  Erika saved my hide on that one. I told her I want her to visit on a regular basis: she cut, she pressed, she organized the blocks.  

Really!  All I did was sew.  Half-square triangles.  Flying Geese. Nine-patch (finally).  Well, I talked, too. But you know that!  

We finally got the block finished and I helped Erika set up a small quilt on the long-arm so she could play.  

She had such a pretty little quilt!  We talked and figured out what she could do and then she played.  And love it!

Look at her beautiful smile!  This is her small quilt almost complete.  She doesn't have much to do at home.

At about the time that Erika finished her small quilt, Kelly completed her bee block.  So we celebrated.

And so, all three block are finished.  I had a few seams left on my block, but it didn't take long to wrap those up.  Now to get them into the mail tomorrow.  Then to load a fresh quilt onto the long-arm and get that one out of the way.
What are you working on this week?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Mason Jars

Yes, that's right! Canning jars of any brand (Ball, Kerr, Mason and Atlas) are a few of the more popular jars and our inspiration for today.  It's amazing how people use canning jars these days.  

A quick Pinterest search for DIY and craft ideas yields lots and lots of results, from organizing to baking to games, lights, and candles. 

If you can think of a way to use a canning jar, you can probably find a picture of it on Pinterest!  These are a few that I really like:

And the quilts!

See these pins and about 4,000 more quilts on the board 

"heart, quilts" on Pinterest.  Don't forget to follow the board 

and leave a comment.