JunkFest 2010

I'm so excited that we are going to have the 2nd Annual JunkFest right here in our area on Saturday, June 19th! There will be lots of vendors, food, music, "junk hunks" to carry your purchases out to your car, and 'trash-to-treasure' demos by me! I'm really looking forward to this. If you are in the area stop by! Go here for the Antique Barn website and here for the Antique Barn blog. Photos courtesy of Antique Barn.

View From My Backyard!

It is such a beautiful day I really don't want to be inside... I've snapped a few photos to share with you and then I'm on my way back out! Have a wonderful weekend!

What My Boys Did (For Me?) On Mother's Day!

No - none of this is me! I wouldn't be caught hanging dangerously off of cliffs! But apparently my boys would. It was a great day for climbing on Sunday so they took advantage of that. Gives me the 'willys' everytime they tell me they've been climbing. Often they'll send me a photo or video while they're in action - it scares the bejeezus out of me!

Nice Mom That Quilts!

My friend Pat, who's in my Art Quilters group, submitted this fantastic quilt to Quilting Arts magazine. There's an online article that tells her story on how the quilt was designed and made for her son who was stationed over in Bagdad. So very proud of you, Pat! Go here to read this fantastic article!

My Mom

My mom, Susan, is one special person! This is her high school graduation picture - 1956! She still looks much the same! She has been through a lot - heart attack at age 58; full recovery; stroke at age 71; pretty much full recovery! She's doing well. I attribute it to her being the original 'health food' guru and healthy lifestyle lady... no white bread, soda pop, or sugared cereal for us as kids. I think it's served her quite well. I am very happy to say she is still with us and enjoying life! I love my mom!

New 'Zine

I love 'zines and I ordered a great one the other day from Lee at The Way I See It. It's called Twigs and Feathers. There are a lot of great ideas and creativity! I think the first run has sold out but I believe they'll be making more issues available. (Photo courtesy of Lee's Esty).

Who's the Winner?

Sorry I'm a day or so behind. I ended up getting a job interview in Helena so was out of town for a day or two! Went to our cabin at the lake while we were there. Still pretty cold here in Montana! Speaking of Montana, I have a giveaway winner - can you believe it is someone with a Montana connection? The Random Number Generator picked #2 and that was KarenSue of Sue Bee and Butterflies . Congrats, KarenSue. Please email me your address! I have a few surprises already to send but will be hitting the antique stores, etc. this weekend so I'll probably pick up a few more things! Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I really appreciate it! Hope you'll continue to check in and see what's happening here!

Hello, Spring?

This is what is happening today - (view from my office). Oh, yes, we need the moisture, but I want sunshine!!!

Fabric Addiction

My name is Jamie and I'm addicted to fabric. What can I say. I have been stricken with this affliction since I was about 6 or 7. I think I still have pieces of fabric that I collected since I was that age (40+ years ago!). I know I still have pieces from the late '70s - early '80s. So, because I can never have enough, today I went to one of the local quilt stores, Main Street Quilting Company, for some textile therapy! I couldn't resist this new fabric from Moda called Cherish Nature. Check it out here. I love the eggs. I only bought fat quarters but I'm pretty sure I will need more of the egg fabric! I also really, really like the turquoise background. We are fortunate to have four, (yes, FOUR) really awesome quilt stores in our tiny little town of less than 30,000 people. Amazing! Lucky Me! If you're ever visiting Bozeman (or Yellowstone Park) visit these quilt stores:

Main Street Quilting Company

Reproductions Fabrics

Quilting in the Country

Quilts on Broadway

In the Garden

SW Montana has such an incredibly short growing season. As I read many of your blogs I envy your photos of the wonderful lilacs, tulips, etc. already in full bloom! I grew up in Northern California - Marysville and Chico, to be exact - and I have the fondest memories of all the wonderful plants that grew in our garden and for a lot longer than only three months! The past few days here it's been snowing - yes, s-n-o-w-i-n-g! But, there are a few grape hyacinth, daffodils and tulips peeking through and a really scraggly looking bunny rabbit!

I Love This!

First of all, if you haven't signed up for my giveaway in honor of my 200th post, please add a comment to the post here! I will choose a winner on May 5th! Not sure what I'm giving away yet, but it will be an assortment of vintage goodies and whatever other kinds of fun things I can find! Also, I was very lucky to win this beautiful little embroidery from Jenny at Yarn Soup! I love it! Please check out her blog here! Thanks for all your recent comments. Life is good! I'm ready for adventure! Here is what I won! (photos courtesy of Jenny's blog!)

200 Posts Giveaway

This is my 200th post! Wow. Can't believe it. I love having a blog, I love reading blogs. I admit I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be and I'd love to spend some time updating it! But, for now I do what I can! Lots of changes are in store for me - my job is ending June 30th - not by choice - victim of downsizing! I've turned 50! I have four wonderful kids (three grown)! I have a guy in my life who is pretty special. Sometimes I feel like I'm just beginning. I actually feel pretty positive about it! What do I do? Where do I go? Lots to think about. I just visited Laura at 52 Flea - one of my top 10 favorite and inspiring blogs. I signed up for an absolutely fantastic giveaway - a dream giveaway, and guess what? I won! Wow. I so needed this! Maybe it's the beginning of good things to come? Anyway, back to the 200 posts! I think it's time for me to have a giveaway as well. I'm thinking that I will need some time to collect a few things, so leave a comment on this post until May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), then I'll choose a winner at midnight! Thanks for stopping by! Jamie

Late Night Creativity

I finally have a 'free' evening. I am working on pages for another journal in the swap I'm participating in! The theme for this one is vintage look/gardens... some of my favorite things! I am going to use this 'lace paper' and fabric pieces from Cotton Scraps which I found at a new store in town Simply Fresh Arts!

Too Busy?

Wow - several weeks breeze by and and I haven't written at all! Work has been busy, so I really haven't been focusing on anything creative, even in the off-hours - though I have read a few good books and I've even hosted a workshop! Spending a lot of time updating my resume. My job is ending June 30th - kind of scary! Our grant will not be funded in the same capacity so I get to look for a new job! I'd love to be able to make a living doing something at home, but not sure what that would be~ but I am excited about change! That's never really bothered me! I have been reading a few Needlecraft Mysteries by Monica Ferris! They are pretty short reads - about all I can handle - I love mysteries! She is going to actually be traveling by train from Minnesota to Seattle this summer, with a few stops in Montana. I think I'll try to go see her! The other book I just had to have is Treasured Notions by Kaari Meng. This is fantastic!

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!