SNOW...

I'm sick of it.  Sick of no color, sick of cold, wet feet and sick of shoveling.  The Nor'easter that moved through yesterday (actually there were two) was only supposed to leave 6 to 10 inches.  The official amount for Philadelphia is 14 inches.  This record is determined at the Philadelphia International Airport.  I am beginning to believe that the airport resides in some other Philadelphia, not where I live.   My neighborhood got 24 inches of snow.  Here are some pictures I took as I was shoveling out this morning.

That big bush you see is a rose.  I prune my roses in mid-winter but haven't been able to get to this one because of the snow.  That bush is over 7 feet tall.

 This is my back fence gate.  The fence is 4 feet high.

A neighbors car.  Some of the snow on top broke away and fell off the hood. 

The circles are actually the top of 4 foot tomato cages. We leave them as markers for lily bulbs or plant placement for next year.

The picnic table on my patio.  That's the bench portion.
 
Like I said, I am sick of snow.
 
Love from Liri

A FANTASTIC FIND

It's been awhile since my last post. I have been making pinwheels. So many, they have even invaded my dreams, LOL. But we went to St. Vincent's Thrift store today and I just have to share this find with you. I found this with a price tag of $3.99.

Sad to say it is too large for me (1XL) but it was too good a find to pass up.  The jacket is made of black silk.  I believe it is Dupione silk, it has that slubbed texture.  The embroidery is done by machine.  These are on the sleeves.

These are on both sides of the lapels.

And these are on either side of the bottom front.

There is nothing on the back, it is all fabric.  This is just screaming at me "Put me into a quilt." 

Wouldn't you agree?

Love from Liri

PINWHEEL PARADE!

Flit:  Oh, pretty!  Can I play with those?

Scraps from the Koala Redwork quilt.

Me:  Yeah, but not right now.

Flit:  Can I have the black & white scraps Kathleen sent you to play with, too?

Me:  (absentmindedly)  Yeah!

Flit:  Can I use the Pinwheel Party instructions you collected from Twiddletails?

Me:  Flit, please, I am trying to get something done here!  (Do you notice a trend?)

Flit:  Well, can I?

Me:  Yes, OK!  Now, please let me get something done!

Flit:  Help me make some pinwheels?

Me:  Not now!

Flit:  Please, please, please?  Pretty please?

Me:  OK, OK!  If I let you make some pinwheels will you promise to leave me alone for awhile?

Flit:  Yes! 

So we made some pinwheels, like so.

Flit:  Can I have that piece of red fabric with the monkeys, elephants and camels?

Me:  What do you want that for?  I only have a little piece.

Flit:  I need it for the blank squares in the blocks.

Me:  You promised you would let me alone after we made the pinwheels!

Flit:  I had my fingers crossed behind my back!

Me:  Oh, all right!   I give up!

Flit:  Oh, goody!  I need black thread in my sewing machine.

Me:  Your sewing machine?  YOUR SEWING MACHINE!

Flit:  Yeah, mine.  You have one, why can't I have one?  Didn't you buy it for me?

Me:  Incredible!  You are one cheeky little muse, you know that?

Flit:  Yeah, but you love me anyway!  Can we get back to my pinwheel blocks?

Me:  (shaking my head)  I suppose we'd better or you will give me no peace!

And so we measured and cut and pinned and sewed and pressed and this is what Flit came up with - a Pinwheel Parade!

Closeups of the blocks!

I've sewn the verticals together.  Once the horizontals are finished, she wants a narrow black border, then a narrow red border, then another narrow black border.  The finish will be black & red pinwheels all around, but she can't decide whether to use 4 inch or 6 inch pinwheels.  I will have to see how the measurements turn out!

This came out so well, I just might let her do it again!

Love from Liri

I HEAR THE TRAIN A COMIN'...

You guys are so funny!  Love singing Johnny Cash and Sandy & Sister 26 wondering if I eat and sleep!  Not eat?  Not sleep?  Heaven forbid, LOL!  The truth is, ladies, I do the needlework while watching TV so I DON'T fall asleep!  You would be surprised how much you can get done in two hours (I have my favorite shows, you see) and I am usually in bed by 10:00 pm.  Thank you all for the lovely compliments!

To answer Marie's question about the designs.  All the train designs are transfer patterns.  Half of them are republished through Aunt Martha's Transfers (which can be found at JoAnne's) and the other half I found in an old McCall's transfer book.  I think the book is about 30 years old.  I found it in the trash pile (along with alot of other good patterns in a grocery bag) at the St. Vincent's Thrift store.  Have no idea why they threw it out, but it was serendipity for me!

Now on to the good stuff.  Here are the fabrics I have to work with.  The first picture is a wide seam binding I found at JoMar's for 25 cents a package.  I bought a lot of it thinking I might be able to use it for train tracks.  Haven't figure out how, yet!  It could also be used as binding or sashing (yeah, I have that much of it, LOL)!  I think it is about 3 inches wide unfolded.

Remember the fabrics Mary so generously sent me when she went to that fabric store in North Carolina (I think is was NC)?

Here are some to the motifs from one of the fabrics.  These can be fussy cut.

And here is another one!

And then there are these!  (Katie, didn't you send me this first one?  I remember I got all excited about it, LOL!)

 

As you can see, plenty of farm pictures and scenery to work with.  If you have ever flown over farmland, it looks like a patchwork quilt from above.  So I have these fabrics that could be included.  I think some of them may be too blue though.

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I numbered the fabrics so you could give me your thoughts.

And so what do you think?  Can you see the train tracks winding through the farmlands and past the houses?  I can!

Love from Liri