Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Sherri Lynn Wood workshop

I attended a two-day workshop with author Sherri Lynn Wood thanks to the Baton Rouge Modern Quilt Guild and Quilt Guild Acadienne. Held at A&A Sewing Center, this workshop could not have been more. Class fees paid for everything, and I mean everything. That included more delicious food than we could eat. (South Louisiana, y'all. We know how to eat!)

Sherri Lynn Wood (center) with our fearless
leaders, Torch (left) and Lori (right)
Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful weekend!

And now to inspire you, just a few pictures of some of the pieces we worked on. No one felt compelled to complete any one work. There simply isn't enough time. 
Day 1: Ruler Free Mashup--sewing without rulers.

Follow Sherri Lynn Wood on Instagram

Day 2: Template-free curves--cutting and sewing curves freehand. 

Christmas 2019: A TREE

I have not been doing much crafting. Or sewing. Or quilting. However, before leaving for Disney I made a couple of decorations for the tree. They are simply strings of large beads on a very thin wire. I added skinny ribbon to hang them on the branches. 

I really like them. They aren't showy like most ornaments, but they are pretty. I hung each one on a branch so that it dangles freely any time the tree moves, which is when the tykes are here. That's been a few days in the last two weeks.

At nap time in Deedee's house everyone sleeps in one chair.

Speaking of the tree, it looks pretty good this year. I've decided that the trick is to fluff the branches and hang lots of ornaments. Lots. Just keep adding. My angel topper did not survive summer in the attic, so I made a topper with some red ribbon I bought in the after-Christmas sale last year. 

Since putting up the tree, I've cleaned the attic. Right? Cleaned. The. Attic. It was a crazy afternoon of getting the Christmas stuff down, realizing how much other stuff was up there and just jumping on another project. Right now, there are no boxes up there. And it's swept! Clean. Like. Never. Before. (Sorry no pictures to prove it but it's real.) I think it's my gift to myself. Ha!

Among our other ornaments, I found these two ornaments that I made a couple of years ago. The mini Santa suit has five pieces, socks, hat, pants and coat. The tassel is made of crewel thread, sheer ribbon, beads all in red and a bit of gold trim. It's an easy ornament and you can find my tutorial to make it here. The tutorial for embellishing it is here. I'm guessing you have everything you need on hand. Am I right?

December is kicking it!

I am not keeping up with my crazy life. Here's a quick catch-up of the happenings since our return from Disney, starting with a fam photo (above) of the one day that we wore our WDW shirts, which I made using the Silhouette and heat press.

Two days after Disney, we held the Cotton Quilter's Guild Christmas party. As Madam President, I was in charge one last time, but Margaret (our incoming pres) was generous enough to take care of the food and details. Thanks, Maggie!  

Maggie is on the left here. Thanks girl!

We got back on Saturday and on Sunday I drove Richard's mom to Dollar Tree in Alexandria to do a little shopping and picked up table cloths and flowers. I needed centerpieces for Monday. Yeah, down to the wire. 

Dirty Santa (or White Elephant) game

 As soon as we returned, I thought about what to do with the little I'd bought and started digging through "my flower stuff." It turns out that I had some cotton stems salvaged from a BHS prom before retirement. Wow! I'd completely forgotten. And they were perfect! Cotton Quilters' and cotton centerpieces. Yay! 

Boxed up and ready to go.

I'd found these red containers and picked up six to serve as vases. A bit of sand (thanks to the old flowers from the cemetery) and they were heavy enough. So here we are! Just like that. Flower arrangements, and they didn't cost a fortune. Score! I love to find reusables in the studio. Save the earth, save a fortune!

Red poinsettias and green sprigs make up the bulk of the arrangement. A touch of gold adds some elegance and a stem of cotton makes it home. I had a roll of wide burlap ribbon that didn't get used for the cemetery flowers, so voila, it just worked. And just like that we had a party!

Pin It Weekly #298

Pin It Weekly time! Last week we met a couple of new followers. Let's meet a few more....

First a hello to Donna Farquhar. She has over 400 pins on vintage fashion ideas from patterns to photos. I'll have to go back for a visit, she's given me an idea for another board... 'cause, you know, 180 would not suffice.  

Leona Hawker has some beautiful crochet and lace on one of her boards. Here are a few that have been turned into Christmas ornaments.

And lastly, Stitchin' Post, which is a quilting shop. This is their blurb: The Stitchin Post in Sisters, Oregon 20 Miles from Bend, Oregon Quilting Fabrics,Books, Notions, Inspiration, and Charm Owned by Jean Wells and Valori Wells   And these pins are from their "Best of Stitchin' Post" board.

And that's this week's PIW. Hope you enjoyed and were inspired. Would you like your Pinterest to be featured on Pin It Weely? Let me know in the comments or email me at mary.marcotte@gmail.com. I'd love to visit your boards and feature your pins! Now, which of them are you going to visit? 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Houston 3

My apologies for missing SQI last weekend. I'm happy to say that I have a few more pictures from quilts at the Houston Quilt Festival. These are from Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) and from "In the American Tradition."

SAQA had a special exhibit entitled "Layered and Stitched: 50 Years of Innovative Art." These are some of my favorite works.

The following quilts are all from the "In the American Tradition" exhibit.

Look at Walt Disney World

I told you in this week's PIW post that we spent Thanksgiving week at Disney, right? Right. I thought you might enjoy just a few of the pictures I took while we were there. Most of these are from those moments when I was watching a grandie. The littlest one is there in the first picture. He smiled through every moment.

That's us. The whole crew. Wearing the "Happiest Marcotte Ever" tee-shirts that I printed for the whole crew. Even the little tyke has one.

These pictures are from the ones that I took. I've always loved Main Street but it's especially pretty all dressed up in lights and Christmas decorations.

I think this is the bus terminal and I took the picture from the boat that ferried us from our cabin to Magic Kingdom. 

 Cinderella's castle is beautiful day or night, but the Christmas lights certainly add a different kind of beauty. 

 Gardens and fountains are tucked away in every little corner. One has to really look. Forget the rides and the retail. Just stroll and look. Then look some more.

 Don't forget to look from the Skyliner. These gondolas have shaded glass all around them so that you can do exactly that: look.

 One of the new attractions is Avatar land. Here you can look at strange, over-sized plants and flowers. Everything here is meant to set the scene for the ride, which is awesome, but the plants and scenery are pretty awesome, as well. Don't forget to look for a spot to take your own Disney photos. In this land there are places tucked everywhere you turn.

All you have to do is look. What is your favorite Disney place to look?