Happy Anniversary to Us!

We liked the book, and we liked the movie.  But what we loved was the book cover.

And the bird girl.

Which brings me to the tradition my own true love and I started some years ago.  When it’s our anniversary, instead of buying each other a present, we buy something for us.  And this year, the bird girl is it.

So, the landscapers came in and pulled out the old mulch and landscape fabric for us, then laid down a combination of mulch, stone, and breeze.  Now the bird girl has a place of her own.

Okay, so it’s not a beautiful cemetery in Savannah, and “Early Morning in the Sandelin Backyard” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”  On the other hand, this one is ours. 

The next step is to get some pots for flowers to add some color to the breeze area where the bench sits.

Isn’t she lovely?  Oh, yes.  She makes us very happy, indeed.

Rainbows, Rainbows

Here’s the lovely rainbow themed S.T.U.D. quilt I received from Frieda. 

I love how she quilted the colorful circle in the center!
Here’s the package with the really cute card, a sweet bit of fabric, and a cool needle pack.  I just love those bears!


And, just  one last little thing: part of the added little something to go with the solid colored modern quilt swap.  My partner is a biker and loves these colors.  I’m hoping this will do the trick for her.

Go! Rainbows

Miniatures in Minutes Revisited

There was a convergence of event here.  One, I’m doing a lecture and workshop in Santa Barbara in October – and whenever I’ve got a workshop ahead, I like to come up with a few new ideas using that foundation.  Two, the challenge for S.T.U.D. (Swap Till You Drop) this last time was using a single shape in rainbow colors. 

When I’m making up a mini, there are times I cut out exactly the number of patches that I need.  Other times I just cut out a bunch and see what I come up with.  That’s what I did this time and the AccuQuilt Go! is perfect for that.  I use the 1 inch strip die.  First I cut fabric squares at about 5 1/4" to 5 1/2" and lay them on the die.

They cut up into such nice clean strips!

I just peel away the little side strips that are no good and then lay the 1" strips crosswise across the die.

After that is run through the die, I’ll have a whole bunch of little one inch squares.  I’ve only shown one set in the photo but I can actually fit four sets of squares on the die.  Given that each 5" square yields 25 patches and I can layer those squares four to six deep – that means I can cut 400 to 600 little squares in just two passes through the die cutter.  Yeow!

I played with the patches and didn’t use a couple of the yellows shown above.  Before I head out to Santa Barbara I’ll make up a Quilt Layout Diagram for this pattern, but I just laid them out and sewed them as is. 

I’ve got a bunch more of those patches cut out, so there is time to play.  Plus, I mailed this one out for the swap.  I’ll be making another one for myself as well. 

I’ll have pictures soon of the pretty little quilt I received today, too.  I just have to wait till tomorrow when I’ve got better light.

Meanwhile, wishing everyone lots of rainbows (and no more rain than you want).