Mary and me

Mary Engelbreit is someone I'd like to know. I'd like to hang out with her, visit her studio, watch her work, and drink tea with her in the hopes that some of her artistic talent would rub off on me. I've always loved her illustrations and artwork. Some of it's kind of kitschy, but I find it charming and delightful.

Last week I scored a couple of decorative items at Hobby Lobby in the gardening section and brought them home to my house. As I was putting them in their proper places, I realized there are quite a few of her items here!

This is my new gardening flag. Initially I took a photo of it in the store thinking I would replicate it as a banner for my front door. But realistically speaking, how long would that take? Ten bucks later - instant gratification as a garden flag! (But the door banner idea is still on my no-end-in-sight "to make" list!)

This little metal sign is also designed for the garden, but it's just so at home in the sewing room (and it won't rust in here!). Laughter, stitches, Shakespeare, and Mary - perfect!!

My Mary-inspired New York Beauty quilt top has been finished for quite some time - probably two years. It was hanging at my LQS for quite a while when I was teaching a NYB workshop, and since then it's been packed away in a box :( It's one of my favorite things I've made, so this week I'm taking it to a long-arm quilter to be finished. Can't enjoy it while it's folded in a box, can I?

The inspiration for my quilt came from a New York Beauty workshop I took at the International Quilt Festival in 2009 in Chicago. The kits for this 16" finished block were included in the class, and I was thrilled when I arrived and all the fabrics were by Mary or Mary-esque :)

More stuff in my sewing room by Mary... a re-purposed pencil/tool caddy and pincushion.

And lastly, my most favorite Mary Engelbreit decoration - a garden sign and post that I painted at least 10 years ago. I found the pattern in one of her books at my local library (Mary Engelbreit Spring or Summer). The paint has been touched up once or twice and looks like it needs it again this year.

But it stays out all winter long just waiting for spring and some pretties like these to be planted with it...

Tonight will hopefully be our last frost in Northern Illinois, so I'll be planting these outside tomorrow!

Have a happy week :)

the power of flowers

Today I learned a lesson in the power of a handful of tulips.

A co-worker of mine has gone through an incredibly rough time over the last several months.

Today is her birthday.

Her favorite color is purple.

On a routine grocery trip I spied some purple tulips.

I took them to her at work.
Unexpected tulips delivered to the birthday girl = unexpected hugs given to the bearer of tulips :)

All that happiness from a handful of purple tulips.

And these little pretties made by Lorrie are going to brighten up the neighborhood quilt this afternoon as I piece all the blocks together :)

And lastly, that Mary Engelbreit... she surely got her message right today...

New York Beauty

I've been busy this week getting ready to teach a New York Beauty class on Saturday. I paper-pieced my quilt using needle-punched Golden Threads paper patterns (makes everything SOOO accurate) and someday maybe I'll put together a post illustrating the process. The class participants are going to complete four 8" blocks that can be finished as a 16" pillow or bag front or used as the start of a whole quilt. They'll be using kits with all the fabrics pre-cut (am I a great teacher or what??) in similar colors to this quilt top that I finished in 2009 - many Mary Engelbreit fabrics, accented by lots of black and white, red, yellow, royal blue, and (my personal favorite in this quilt) lime green! I particularly love the green flange on this...

I'll not kid you here - this quilt was pretty tedious to make, but I love how it turned out! It has been hanging in the LQS where I work for almost one year, and you'd think with all that time passing I'd have a plan ready for how to quilt it - but NO, I've got no idea. Gotta do a little research on that topic...

More exciting news on the Kaffe Quilt-Along front: Last week the photo of my Kaffe Paintbox Quilt was featured in an online newsletter at http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com/! Thanks to Lynne for the heads up! Another amazing quilt named "Chintzd Up Haze Kilim" made by Cathy at CabbageQuilts was also featured. The article contains a link that you can use to click over to Facebook and view all the lovely Kaffe quilts-in-progress posted by other Kaffe junkies :)

I guess that summer is officially here now that both my kiddos are done with school, so I'll be dusting off my "Julie, your Cruise Director" uniform and having tons of fun with them for several weeks to come. But mama's still got to have her sewing time to stay sane!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, heavenly day!

Today I spent an entire hour outside walking my dog, and it is a glorious day here in Northern Illinois. All of our snow is finally gone, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and LIFE IS GOOD! I have also spent A LOT of time staring out the window today, finally feeling that soon I'll be seeing this view...

This is a small garden area near the gate to my back yard. It is the view I see every time I drive the car into the garage, every time I come home from walking the dog, and every time I go out in the morning to get the paper (during the summer, of course.) It is a lovely little area filled with boxwoods, snapdragons, coneflowers, zinnias, as well as other annuals that spring up from seeds that were just "dropped in." But my favorite part is the sign. I made that several years ago from a pattern found in a Mary Engelbreit craft book. I have to repaint it and the post (a painted stairway spindle and ball-topper from Home Depot) every few years, but it is worth the time - so cheerful! It stays outside all year long, and every year the twine holding up the sign breaks, and sometimes the entire thing is covered with snow. But it is always there, waiting for spring and flowers - just like me!

Speaking of flowers... these Anna Maria Horner Garden Party prints came in the mail last week from hawthornethreads.com. I just had to get them out and photograph them on this wonderful day along with these cuties...

Aren't they happy! Alexander Henry Willow line... again from hawthornethreads.com

I did have a few moments of productivity today when I managed to get some more paintbox quilt-along blocks done. Only six more solids to go and I"LL BE READY FOR SASHING!! I am love, love, loving how they have all turned out!

Hope you are having a glorious sunny day at your house, too!!