Pin It Weekly #268

I missed last week's PIW because I was volunteering at Beta convention. Now that it's over, and I've recovered, I'll help babysit grandies while we pass the crud around like we're playing hot potato. Ryder is in the hospital, Marley and Sophie both are running fevers, and Milly's little nose is raw from being cleaned so often.

Let's meet a couple of new followers, shall we? Maria das Dores Lima's boards are all titled in Portuguese. I translated them using Google 
so I could figure out the language. (I'll assume that Google is correct.) 
Here are a few of her pins:

Sofia Luchita is big on travel! She has almost 50,000 pins on her travel board. Check it out:

Jesseka is just as interested in words. She has several boards with memes and posters and, well, phrases of  all sorts about all sorts. Here are a few:

And there we are. New followers, new pins, new ideas! 

Pin It Weekly #267

It's time for PIW. And we're almost at 4,000 followers on Pinterest! How crazy is that? Here are a few who have been pinning some interesting winter ideas.

Mary Black has a board titled, "Mary's to do list." You KNOW I had to check it out!

Darlene Young has several adorable ideas pinned to her boards. Here are a few of my favs.

"Carved wood doors" got my attention. Check out Judy Miller-Kelly's really interesting board.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: DOORKNOBS

I know, sounds kind of desperate, doesn't it?  Here's my thinking: if anything can be inspiration, then on occasion I have to choose something really odd.  Doorknobs feel odd.  We'll see how that goes in a second.

Surely some of these more off-the-wall (yes, pun intended) door knockers and doorknobs can inspire a quilt or two.  I was thinking of the regular, ordinary, not-so-special doorknobs that ordinary people (like myself) have in our homes.  If, however, you really like the odd and endearing, check out Laura Beth Love's "door knobs knockers and latches" board.  Really, I want to just show you all 85 of her pins, but I have other work to do.

I'm supposed to be showing you some quilts inspired by doorknobs. Surprise, I have something.  I'm disappointed, however, because the best I can do are these little quilts that hang on a door knob. There are lots of these, but well...

They aren't even quilted but they could be!  Maybe that's the inspiration.  You could make a few for the doors in your house but quilt them.  

I'm not sure just what to consider this post: I don't feel like it's a win, but I do like the little door hangers and can see that they would be just as cute made and quilted in cotton.  

What would you consider this post?  A win (for finding some darling little sewn items)?  Or a loss (for not finding any quilts)?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: DOORS and WINDOWS

Our son has a business in which he sells and installs replacement doors and windows.  They, of course, are the type of doors and windows that are beautiful, sturdy and new.  These doors and windows are meant to keep things out of a house.  

Quite often they are installed and never used.  Their purpose is to increase the value of the house, look new and pretty, and save energy.  All good things, sure.  But what about the old door?  What happens to those old windows?

I am one of those people who love the doors and windows that are being replaced more than the new.  I especially love the really, no I mean really old ones.  The wooden ones.  The ones with a pane or two missing.  The ones that have been around for a while and collected several coats of paint.  Those that are grayed and chipped and worn.  Those that have seen and heard and know things.  Those are the ones for me.  

Of course, I can't collect every old door that Adam takes out of a house.  I don't have the time or resources to save them.  Quite often the guys break the glass or have to beat something out of its frame. That's one of the problems of years of painting.  

They become painted into place, stuck for good. Gentle nudging just doesn't cut it when you have a deadline to meet.  It doesn't help that just as often the men toss the window, frame, and everything else into the trailer in an effort to clean and roll.  

Still, there are times that I want to tell Adam to bring the oldest of them home to me.  I don't.  It's not fair to him--the extra time costs money, and the extra work in often inclement weather is just asking too much, even for mom.

So what's a mom to do?  Use the windows and doors as inspiration for crafting ideas.  One of my more recent quilts, "Old Ohio Rose," was inspired to some extent by windows.  I wanted the feel of looking out of windows onto a rose garden. 

The rest of these are pins from my "heart, quilts" Pinterest board.  

What's inspiring you these days?