Facebook Fun

My sister Angie sitting on our maternal grandfather's lap,
then maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother. 

I had a great idea a few days ago after we ran across some really old family photos.  These photos are from my childhood and since we are eight sisters, it's easy to mix up the faces.  I found that I had to look on the back of the pictures to figure out who's who.  Thank goodness mom wrote the names there.

Me and Angie

It occurred to me that my sisters might want a few of the pictures, so I decided to post some on Facebook.  That gave me the idea to make it into a game.  Every night I post a few pics and everyone tries to guess who the people are.  I've posted pictures of our grandparents that had our children
discussing who they might be. 

Me (seventh grade)

Everyone seems to be enjoying the game, and I can say that I have never had so many comments  before!  If nothing else we're having fun, and the younger generation is learning about those in the family who have passed away, in some cases before they were even born.


If you have older children, you might try this game as a way of teaching them about your family.  One of the surprises is how many stories we've shared since we started playing.  Wasn't that a brilliant idea?  Do you think it would work so well for your children? 


Thank you to those who voted for my blog on Picket Fence.  It's gone up to 130 votes and moved to page 22!  I don't expect to move to page one....that takes about a 1000 votes, but it's fun to see the blog move up the ladder, albeit slowly.

Red Hot

Definitely this little quilt fits the red hot description.  It's a somewhat copy of a quilt I made for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative  (AAQI) over the summer.  

I am making a few small quilts to display in the studio.  I had some of the pieces already cut and decided to stitch them up.  

It was fun remembering how to quilt using the Bernina.  I've used it only a few times since we bought the long arm machine two years ago.   

The quilting could be a bit better, but it's not horrible and I like the feathers.....even the crooked ones!

What do you think?  

On a different note, please take a moment to click on the Picket Fence button on the upper right.  I'd love a few more votes!  Thanks!

Book Review of "Here Lies the Librarian"

Being a librarian is great fun for me.  I really do love my job.  Imagine my reaction when I ran across a book by Richard Peck titled Here Lies the Librarian.  Surely no one would kill off a librarian in book!

Well, that's half right anyway, the librarian in Peck's young adult novel is already dead when we meet Peewee and her brother.  Hum, interesting plot.  What makes it more interesting is that after two years, the city council will finally replace their dead librarian. 


The story is set in the early 1900's when Peewee and Jake hope to become famous as auto mechanics now that the new road is being built right past their house, which Peewee states is "in the weeds."  Enter Irene Ridpath and three of her sorority sisters and let the fun begin. 


You will fall in love with the quirky, down-home characters, their folksy ways and phrases and their first automobiles. 


If you've not had the pleasure of reading one of Peck's many books, let me recommend them all.   I read Here Lies the Librarian in an afternoon and now plan to pick up a copy of The Teacher's Funeral.  

Oh, what fun!

Thankfully, I had an entire Sunday afternoon to play in the studio.  And......

play, I did!

This little quilt was so much fun!

Check out the 3-D flowers and vintage buttons.

Talk about easy....just cut some flowers 

and stitch them down.

Some I cut using my Accuquilt Studio cutter, 

others I hand cut.  

Can you tell the difference?

What do you think?  Is it a like 

or, ehh, not so much?

In Memory of Ma-Ma!

Some time ago my sister Sid and I were at mom and dad's house looking for a particular quilt and ran across one of the ugliest quilt tops I've seen.  Seriously, it was hideous!  Sid insisted that I "save it."  I felt a tinge of guilt because it had been hand sewn and who else would do anything with it?  So I rolled it up and tossed it into the backseat along with a few other things--
but not the quilt I was there to pick up.

Look closely and you'll see that the fabrics are awful.  The brown fabric in one block was spliced with white thread, and the maker used it that way.  There are tucks and pleats all over the place, and much of the fabric is some sort of stretch fabric from the 70's and 80's.  I call it velour but Richard says it's fleece.

And that's how I know that my grandmother, Volcie Couvillion Lacombe is the maker!  Richard recognized some of the fabrics from his days at Garan's Mfg. when he was the head mechanic there.  

Sweet darling that he is, he would occasionally pick up some of the larger scraps and bring them home.  I'd pass them along to Ma-ma and she sewed them into quilts.  She added fabrics she picked up from just about anywhere, but none were what we today call quilting cottons.  


So, in the end, I decided to do something with it.  After a week on the longarm......TA DA!

It's a beautiful quilt, after all, 

and not just because Ma-ma was the maker.

I somehow worked out most of the issues or simply stitched them down.  I decided on stippling the quilt so that I could do just that and also stitch on top of the seams so that they would not pull apart.  Now that it's done, I really love it.  So many people in my life had a hand in this quilt: Richard provided most of the fabrics, Ma-ma cut and pieced it, Mom saved it, and now, I've finished it.

Quick Goodnight

I spent the afternoon playing in the studio.  How wonderful!  I completed a small wallhanging and began working on another, but the camera is out of commission, so it will be tomorrow before I can post pictures.  I am feeling some guilt, however, because I haven't said hello in a few days. 

On a happy note, my online class with quiltcampus.net will begin in a week!  We'll be making the quilt on the right, which I call "Three Circles."  If you're interested in taking the class, you just need to go to http://quiltcampus.net/.  The class begins on the 22nd of this month and the forum opens on the 19th so that we can get to say hello and get to know each other a bit before class begins.

I sure hope to see you in the classroom!

Happy Quilting,
Mary

Etsy Shop Profile: Averylee Designs

I'm beginning to feel human again.  It's amazing how much a good night of rest will do for the body.  Since I am up to an interview today, say "hello" to Sheryl and Peggy, two grandmothers from Oregon who just happen to create some of the prettiest needlecrafts for their Etsy shop Averylee Designs.  They happen to be great friends who met in one of my favorite places....a quilt class!


1. Explain your business partnership.  Our business partnership was birthed from a long term friendship. One that is seasoned with the joy's and challenges that life delivers. All it took for us to begin crafting together was taking a beginning quilt class. Since taking that class we have delighted in each other’s developing artistic skills and started Averylee Designs a year ago with the desire to help others grow in creativity and teach the skills we had to share. Recently we opened an Etsy shop to sell our creations.

2. Where/when did you learn to make such beautiful cross-stitch and needlework? Peggy was introduced to needlework while thumbing through a magazine about twenty five years ago and was inspired to learn the craft. Through trial and error it began to blossom in design and intricacy. Sheryl was first introduced to needlework as a young school girl. In the fifth grade her teacher had each student create an embroidered piece on burlap. She remembers very vividly the owl in the tree she stitched. The other wonderful gift of needlework is that it allows us to relax and have a peaceful moment.

3. What are some of your favorite designs to make?  Peggy chooses design by color. She is always drawn by the seasons and her favorite season is autumn. Sheryl really enjoys the French Country designs with the "hidden treasures", such as suddenly you see a squirrel in the center of the design. 

4. How would you describe your creative process?  The creative process is like an adventure, a discovery process. You cannot be overtly perfectionist when you are being creative. Auditioning each medium or project and then committing to starting and finishing fulfils the intrinsic desire in each of us to be creative.

5. Who has influenced your art the most? In what way(s) did this person influence you?   Both of us believe that creation itself speaks volumes and cries out to be duplicated in likeness. Sheryl also gives credit to her mom who allowed and encouraged her creativity as a child.

6. What does "handmade" mean to you?   Handmade is equal to a personal touch. When we hand stitch a piece we not only spend a lengthy amount of time creating, but we also find ourselves emotionally investing in the piece, curiously wondering who will be the recipient of this lovingly created artwork. 

Is there anything else you'd like others to know about yourself or your shop?   Our greatest treasure are our grandchildren of which our business name is created from. Avery is one of six grandsons that Sheryl has been blessed with and Rylee is Peggy’s granddaughter. If you put the two names together it forms the name AveRYlee.


To visit Sheryl and Peggy, go to their shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AveryleeDesigns.