Brown Bag 2nd Part

For my brown bag, I received three fat quarters of batiks in colors that are not my usual style. The object is to try to do something different, and I did enjoy making this little appliqued wallhanging. I had sent some Civil War fabrics (I didn't remember though which ones) and I received a fabulous quilt back - perfect for me, exactly what I like and beautifully made, I was very happy - thank you Lynda. The quilt will be treasured. The smiling lady in the photo is Judy, who coordinated the entire exchange and has done it twice now very well, perfectly organized - and this year, 50 projects were started, and all 50 were finished - a record !

Brown Bag Reveal

Yesterday evening my quilt guild, the PQs, had their annual Brown Bag reveal. It works like this: earlier in the year, ladies participating brought 3 fat quarters of quilting fabric to a meeting, in a small brown paper bag (a lunch bag in the US). These are then swapped, with no one knowing whose fabric they have. Then we all have to make a finished quilted item with the fabrics, and we can add other fabrics as we wish. Several months later, we have a special meeting (yesterday with lots of desserts) and the finished quilts are presented and returned to their original owners - it is always fun because most of us no longer recognize the fat quarters we turned in !

Here are some photos of the finished pieces, they were all gorgeous. In a separate post I will show what I made and what I received !

Gestern abend hatte unser Quiltverein das alljaehrliche Brown Bag Treffen. Vor einigen Monaten haben wir 3 FQs in einem braunen Papiersack getauscht, ohne zu wissen, von wem der Stoff war. Wir muessen dann ein Quilt daraus machen, man kann auch andere Stoffe dazutun. Einige Monate spaeter treffen wir uns dann (gestern mit Nachtisch) und die fertigen Quilts werden gezeigt und gehen mit der urspruenglichen Besitzerin nach Hause. Es macht immer Spass, weil wir fast alle unsere Stoffe nicht mehr wiedererkennen.

Hier sind einige Bilder davon, alle waren sehr schoen. In einem getrennten Post zeige ich dann was ich gemacht habe, und was ich bekam.

Pink and Brown Scrap

Some time ago I decided to cut up all the pink and brown fabrics left over from Dear Jane and make a scrap quilt. I cut a big basket full of pieces using a tumbler template, and randomly pieced them, using some of the mediums as lights and some as darks, which wasn't as successful as I thought it would be.

BUT the pile of fabrics never got any smaller ! I have pieced about half of the quilt which will be a twin size approx., but I seem to have more fabrics than when I started - are they breeding in the closet ??? SO, of course I will have to make another quilt using those scraps, I have an idea for a great Jo Morton pattern, where I can use up the rest of the pinks and even have an applique center - but who knows how much fabric will be left over if I do that !

Fascinating France

Just had to show you a few pictures from our vacation in France. We started out in Paris, went on to Gascony, then spent a week in Provence. We were lucky to have wonderful, late summer weather (even in October) and enjoyed every day outside walking, sightseeing and eating, of course !

Hier einige Bilder von unserem Frankreich-Urlaub. Von Paris bis Gers, und dann eine Woche Provence. Wir hatten unglaubliches Glueck mit dem Wetter, es war jeden Tag warm und trocken, und wir konnten draussen sein, viel laufen, alles Moegliche sehen, und selbstverstaendlich auch gut essen.

Voici quelques photos de nos vacances, de Paris, au Gers et puis en Provence. Il y avait un temps parfait, chaud et comme en ete.

Procrastinating Quilters Guild Show and Tell

For years I have been a member of the "PQs" here in Clearwater. Thursday we met for the first meeting after the summer, and everyone was encouraged to bring something they had been working on. Have a look at some of these pictures, the quilts are gorgeous ! I couldn't take pictures of them all, imagine twice as many like this, and you'll have some idea. I apologize for the picture quality - I am short and it's hard to see in a room full of people !!

Seit Jahren bin ich Mitglied bei den "PQs" in Clearwater. Am Donnerstag trafen wir uns zum ersten Mal nach der Sommerpause, und jede sollte ein fertiges Projekt mitbringen. Guckt Euch mal die Bilder an, die Quilts sind einfach wunderschoen. Ich konnte nicht alle fotographieren, man muss sich doppelt so viele vorstellen, um eine Idee zu haben. Es tut mir leid, dass die Bildqualitaet so schlecht ist - es liegt daran, dass ich so klein bin und der Raum war voller Leute !

More birthday .....

My friend knew that I have been looking for a particular kind of flowering tree since I saw one in France a couple of years ago ...... unfortunately, here in Florida it is considered a nuisance tree (I am talking about Albizia (mimosa), and we recently saw a small bush which looks similar. And lucky me, I was given it for my birthday ! It is the red puffy flower in the pictures. The others are just a few flowers from the garden, there is not much around at the moment, the heat and humidity here kills off most things in August.

Birthday cross stitch

Angelika sent me this gorgeous cross stitch for my birthday - I adore it, she knows exactly that three spoiled cats live in this house and pretty much run the place ! Visit her blog linked to the right here, to see more of her beautiful work.