Spring Ephemera Swap

I joined the Spring Ephemera Swap hosted by Melissa of The Garden of Pink Shadows. I am thrilled at the package I received today! Thank you everyone. These are just beautiful!

Vintage Quilt Treasure!

I attended my local quilt and textile history group meeting last night. One of the members is a fabric historian, quilter and Reproduction Fabrics store owner here in Bozeman. Often, folks from all over the country will track her down to ask questions about certain fabrics or quilts. One group (I think from the Senior Center) in her hometown area (Ohio) contacted her and said they had boxes of quilt squares and wanted some info before they gave them (or threw them) away! They sent them all to her and she was amazed to find lots of wonderful squares and pieced stars, etc. After some research she found that they were from the 1850's to early 1900's... can you imagine? Well, the Ohio group said they would sell them so they could use the money to repair the roof on the Senior Center. Our quilt store owner then offered most of them up for sale to us!!! How could I resist? She had them in bundles, so I managed to purchase these pieced stars which date from 1890 -1910. I paid a fairly good sum for them (aacckk... who needs food?). They are so wonderful. I have 25 different stars that measure about 12" x 12" each. My pictures do not do these justice. I'm in heaven! If anyone has a good idea on how I can use these I'd love to hear it! I don't think I will be making a large quilt, however! Cool, huh?

New Zealand Fabric

My sister just recently returned from New Zealand. Whenever she travels I ask her to bring back fabric unique to the area. She visited a great fabric/craft store called Cushla's Village Fabrics in Auckland and found this for me! I love it. I also have some great fabric she brought to me from her trip to Africa a few years ago. I will post photos of that sometime soon. Maybe someday I will get to travel somewhere fun and pick up fabric of my own!?

Call Me Crazy...

We decided we wanted chickens this year. No, we don't live on a farm. We are actually on the outskirts of town, not in city limits, in a residential area! Hmmmm. We'll see how long this lasts. No roosters, just hens. And they are so adorable. They have a nice little hen house, soon to be decorated with flower boxes and other plants. Can't wait to have some farm fresh eggs! Olivia , my 11 yr old, wants to name them. She gets to name three of them. So far, I've come up with Lucy, Ethel and Ruby. I've also thought of Ginger, Mary Ann, and Lovie... Stay tuned!

A Spring Break!

Every spring break we take a little overnight getaway to Chico Hot Springs for a bit of r & r... it's about an hour drive from us. 5-star meals, wonderful room and lots of time spent in the hot pool! Of course, there's probably snow on the ground this time of year, so these photos were probably from mid-summer!

March Dress!

I have been working on my March Dress for the Alice and Camilla project for quite awhile. First I dyed some old linen with Easter egg dye. It's a bit lighter than I wanted it to be, but it will work. The other colors (blue, pink, purple) turned out quite nicely. I then hand embroidered the flowers and the design around the neck. I am really enjoying embroidering and will share my other projects soon!

Quilt Winner = Me!!!

I am so very pleased to find out that I have won a very wonderful quilt from Nancy at Dark Horse Farm Designs... I LOVE it! The colors are beautiful. She uses Jennifer's fabric from Sis Boom Day Dreams! She makes the most wonderful quilted items and she LOVES horses! Please visit Nancy here and here at Go Make Your Bed! Thank you so much, Nancy! (photo courtesy of Nancy's blog)

Flowers, Gardens, Spring

I know that just because we've had a few 50 degree days lately that I can't get too excited about flowers, gardens and spring. Just not going to happen here until at least mid-May. Oh, the bulbs will start poking through the dirt, but that's about it. I had to laugh when we were in Las Vegas. The pansy's were blooming and they were the size of saucers! I think ours never get past the size of a half-dollar! But all that doesn't stop me from thinking about my garden, and planning what I want to grow this year! I did come across a fabulous idea in the new Mary Jane's Farm magazine. I am going to build a Garden Loom (or maybe order one). I found them here at the Weaving a Life website. You build a loom that you put in your garden and you can weave plants, flowers, sticks, and actual live plants through the string/rope and it then becomes a living tapestry of sorts! Cool, huh? (photo courtesy of the Weaving a Life website)

New Book Giveaway

Minna from Blomsterverkstad is having a giveaway of her new book! If you follow her blog you know that it will be a treat! Lots of inspiration, lots of creativity!

So (Sew) Busy!

I have been too busy to blog, but I can't figure out what I've been doing. Doesn't seem like I've accomplished much lately. Spending time outdoors enjoying the sun, I guess! I have decided to join Amy's 39 Squares Stitch~along! I'm so excited. What a great idea. I don't have any photos yet, but I will post what I've done this weekend! Find more info here or on the sidebar! A fun way to try new things! Hopefully I will catch up this weekend with all the projects I have going on! (photo courtesy of Amy's blog - isn't she creative?)

Bringin' Spring

Three more weeks until Spring, though here in SW Montana we will have snow until May! So ~ I decided to bring a little green indoors with a miniature garden. Isn't this the cutest??? I think there is a new trend in everything miniature so I'm getting a headstart!