Cabled Skirt

Since making Mason's sweater, I have had an idea in mind for a skirt I would like to make out of Rowan's Denim yarn. I had a hard time finding a pattern that met what I had in mind - so I ended up designing one to meet what I wanted - a trumpet/circle type shape, with an interesting pattern, and a little bit of lace at the bottom.

I used the cable pattern "bubbles" from Vogue Stichionary II for the main body of the skirt. I kind of ended up improvising the lace - mostly because I couldn't find a pattern that fitted exactly what I wanted.

I made a draw-string waist, with an i-cord as the draw string. It was a lot of fun to make - and I am thrilled with the results. I had to wash this before I wore this - because the yarn shrinks before you wash it, and because the color kind of bleeds before you wash it the first time. But, as soon as I washed it the first time, I put it on immediately.-

Shelbie

Things in the mail and work in progress

I love getting things in the mail. In fact I do much of my shopping online. And with fuel prices, it makes sense.

I ordered this from Jen Duncan this week. Its a charm pack of fabulous fabric with a button card and vintage seam binding. I love it. She has more of these listed on her etsy store. She even sent cherry fabric, how great is that! I also got a CD of vintage post cards from Jen. I can't load them, so frustrating, because somethings up with my computer. I'll be sure to add that problem to Dave's 'honey do' list for the weekend, though.


The lastest issue of Marie Claire Ideas came. I don't speak a word of french but the pictures are darling. This issue was a little disappointing. There wasn't anything I loved, really.

There was this nice drawing of lemons though, since I've got fruit on my brain.
And this fruity pic made me want to go make some fresh juice drinks or something. It all looks so yummy and sweet.

I got a very sweet surprise package from Monica with mementos from market inside. She's such a great and talented gal. Her blog has a fun post about Quilt Market.


Monica included box with Sandi Henderson squares of fabric. Isn't that a cute idea? That Sandi.
Thanks so much Monica!! What a sweet surprise! It was the next best thing to being there.

I said yesterday I was going to work on Dear Jane last night but I ended up working more on my new little dress quilt. I'll work on the Dear Jane Saturday when I have enough time to devote to the concentration it requires. I would like to finish this dress quilt by next week and get it to the quilter's. Having Monday off will be great. And the weather here is cold and rainy so I'll have time indoors to maybe make some progress. Have a great weekend everyone.
-nanette

Girl with Curlz tagged me

Erin tagged me to answer 6 questions on my blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I had a 3 year-old, 5 year-old, 7 year-old, 10 year-old, two 12 year-olds, 14 year-old and a 16 year-old so I pretty much think that says it all.

2. What 5 items are on my "to do" list for the day? Only boring things today.

1- Work at my job
2- Take Laurie to the orthodontist to get her retainer (she just got her braces off)
3- Make my 2 Dear Jane blocks for the week (or at least start)
4- A few little errands and phone calls
5- Not much else (I told you it was boring)

3. What are my favorite snacks?

I know I shouldn't but I drink diet Mt. Dew. As per previous post I like pretzels and chocolate. And growing up near Philadelphia, I love Tastykakes but they don't sell them in Utah.

4. What would I do if I were a billionare?

Besides things like taking care of family and acquiring a few luxury items (like the best sewing machine on earth), I would use the money for education. I would find individuals that would otherwise not be able to have a good education and invest my money in their future. I would also build and donate to schools that especially gave opportunities to women.

5. What are the places I have lived?

I really am so boring. Reading Pennsylvania, Orem Utah and Alpine Utah

6. Who are some people you would like to know more about?

There are so many people I'd like to know more about but I mostly want to know more about my ancestors.

In the world of blogs (since I think I'm supposed to pass this on) I'd like to know more about Terri from Purple and Paisley, Jody at Because I'm Me, and Darlene at Quilting Daze.

- nanette

Cherries

Summer is coming and I've got fruit on my brain . . .
I have always loved cherries. And so I've always loved Mary Engelbreit things. Cherries are so happy and what can be better than red and white?!
I have lots of fabric in my stash with cherries. In fact I would say 80% of the quilts I've made (and there have been hundreds) have at least a little piece of cherry fabric in them.
Probably because I love scrap quilts so much I'm able to sneak a little cherry in here and there.So I ordered Cyndi Walker's new book and it came this week. And I haven't been able to put it down. Its really full of fun looking quilts. And they are scrappy - and so "me".
Cyndi has the cutest cherry quilt pattern (far left) in the new book. I love it. But I also have Elizabeth's Flight of Fancy quilt (with cherries in it) and a cute bowl of cherries quilt pattern my friend Laura gave me that I have been wanting to make. So many cherries, not enough time! All 3 patterns are really cute and are tugging at me to make them.
However, this pattern in Cyndi's book threw me completely over the edge. Lemons! Now I've sewn apples and plenty of cherries but I've never put a lemon in a quilt. Although my favorite fragrance is lemon. I like lemon purfume, lemon air freshener, lemon cleaner, lemon lotion, lemonade, anything lemon. So now what do I do? I love cherries but this lemon quilt is really clever and so fresh looking. I only have so much time to devote to a new summer quilt unless I take up not sleeping like Martha Stewart. So the cherries may have to wait and I'm thinking the lemon may win. Who knows, it might start a new trend for me.
-nanette

bday fab

I had a wonderful birthday. I thought I would share some of my goodies: below are some pictures of the fabric that was either given to me or purchased with birthday money. They are all from either superbuzzy or reprodepot. The beads are so amazing, but I don't know what to do with them. The hippos are destined for a baby quilt and those robots I will stash away for maybe when I have kids someday. I made a scarf out of the picnic fabric, and some of those others are just to add to my collection.

My mom got me this bobble-headed owl. The bobble-head goes side to side and it just shakes its head at me in constant disapproval. But it is such a sweet disapproval that I kind of don't mind. Whitney got me that pair of yellow peep toes and they are comfy and stunning. Shelbie also got me a pair of orange flip flops that I have pretty much been wearing constantly so at this point they aren't quite fit for a photograph. Laurie got me a monster-hunting handbook, Chelsey got me some fancy make-up and my mom also got me that Epice scarf from Virginia Johnson below. I have a thing for scarfs. I really do. Finally, my boyfriend took me to the Kennecott copper mine visitor's center and he got me an ipod! How sweet is that?

So it was a great birthday and it always nice to get things but it is also nice to have the support and friendship of my family. yay! -Natalie

Go see Jodi!

You have to go over to Jodi's blog and read and see all about her 'birds eye view' from working at Quilt Market this week. Jodi is a great photographer and quilter and a very wonderful girl. And she's giving away a prize from the Spree! Its her birthday Monday, too. Go wish her a happy birthday and see her "reporter at large" posts and enter her give away. So much fun.

-nanette

Weekend stuff

Wonderful weather here . . . 88 degrees and its hard to believe it was snowing 2 weeks ago.

I have a weakness for linens, especially tea towels and vintage table cloths. I had a stainless steel bar put up in my kitchen so I can display my collection.

These 2 towels are new, I couldn't resist. I love the trim on each of them. I could make them, and I do make some, but these were too lovely to pass up.

I really like pretzels having grown up in the heart of pretzel country in Pennsylvania. And of course I love chocolate - who doesn't? Well the marriage of the 2 flavors in these chocolate covered pretzels I got at Costco is fabulous. And of course we love everything Hershey. One of our favorite places is Hershey, PA. If you ever get near there you have to go to Hershey Park and at least go on the trolley tour of the city surrounding Hershey. The story of Milton Hershey is one that every MBA student and anyone who wants to start a business should read and study. If you want to learn about someone who will inspire you, read about Milton Hershey. I have to warn you though, learning about him will make you buy Hershey's products. The Hershey company is still an amazing business that supports education, medical research and the whole community/county surrounding it. The Biography channel had a show about him this month but really there is no substitute for actually being there and seeing what he accomplished and his legacy.

And here is a sneak peak at my new dress quilt/pattern. Its really coming along and I'm enjoying it so much.

-nanette

Dear Jane . . . we have a love hate relationship

Dearest Jane,

How are you? I am fine. You will be happy to know I'm up to date on my baby Jane blocks. It feels good to be done before next week's blocks are introduced. Anina is keeping us on schedule and doing a fabulous job with holding our hands. Here are my latest blocks Jane. I am actually semi proud of them! Believe it or not.

So I have some good news. You will be proud of me Jane. I think I've conquered my phobia of paper piecing, mostly. I know, I know, I've been kicking and screaming at you for weeks now. You've been very patient and encouraging as I look at the blocks and finished baby Janes on the Dear Baby Jane Blog. But this week I had a breakthrough. Thanks to my friends. Jane you know how horrible I am at reading instructions. So I read as much as I could on different blogs about paper piecing including Anina's posted tutorial at Horizon Quilt Patterns and also T's tutorial at Purple and Paisley. I also went to Broadbent's, a local mercantile/quilt store, and Laurie there did a fast brush up show and tell on paper piecing. Thank you Laurie, she was very patient and seeing her method helped me move through my mental block. And Jane, I'm now doing my own combined version of paper piecing using various aspects of all the methods. I knew you'd be proud.

But Jane, I do have to scold you some. What were you thinking when you made this center piece for block B-10????? The total size of the middle piece shown above is 2 1/4" finished! I put the bobbin and flower pin next to the block so my readers can see the difficulty involved in that block. Jane! Why would you do that to me? I nearly gave up the night I sewed this center and there were some very unkind words in my head for you. I hope you'll forgive me but I was really quite mad you. Luckily it worked out in the end but in my frustration I put the wrong color on the outside corners. I'm sure you noticed that right off. And actually I noticed it and could have unpicked it before I joined it to the rest of the block. But I was so annoyed that you would make such a teeny pieced square that I left it just to be defiant! So there. I am feeling better about it now that it is finished and that makes me somewhat forgiving to you right now Jane for the torture of sewing that square.

And Jane I hate to tell you this but (brace yourself) I'm not going to be a Dear Jane Quilt purist. Hard to believe I know. (ha)

Jane really? Set-in corners? Really? I haven't done that since sewing class in HS. And if it wasn't for modern day spray starch, trust me, this block would not have laid down flat. And yeah I'm sure you noticed the crooked center. Oh well.

This triangle block went together pretty fast Jane. But again I was defiant and put the darker color on the edges. And that was totally on purpose.

Edit (written humbly)- After looking at the triangle blocks in pictures last night I realized you are right Jane. This block has to have a light color on the outside of the "teepee". I picked it out and redid the edges in the light color after all. And I forgot to mention those Dear Jane templates I bought are very helpful for trimming and construction.

Jane this block looks like a weird jack-o-lantern to me. And yeah I know, its not really straight or lined up in the center square. I tell myself that some things will just have to "quilt out". Now be honest Jane, weren't there blocks you told yourself the very same thing when you were working on them? Now tell the truth!

Goodnight Jane. It's been a long day but I promised myself I would finish these tonight so I could move into other things I need to do. So I guess I'll see you next week again Jane. And don't tell anyone, but I'm starting to kinda sorta look forward to my next block.

-your friend, Nanette

Sarah Smith cloth winners

I know everyone says this, but I sincerely wish I had enough packages of the darling Sarah Smith cloths to send everyone. I had 3 Nancys enter so I had to label them with part of their blog or tag name. Thank you everyone for leaving comments and participating. I always get the nicest remarks and it always makes me very happy to "know" all of you.

Winners - Nancy from Blogging near Philadelphia and Erica at Polka Dot Quilts. Congrats girls - please email me your address and I'll be mailing those thise weekend. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. I also have several packages of Sarah Smith cloths I've set aside for a few of my closest blogging friends.

Thanks everyone and have a great Thursday. And to all those in Portland - I'm very jealous!

- nanette

Lovely things

For any quilter spring is such an inspiration. At the back of our property is a small run off stream that flows occasionally in the spring. It used to run all the time but the area we live in now is built-up and the water is used for pressurized irrigation. The little stream is still a nice feature to our property since it fed these very tall shade trees for years and now we keep them watered but natural and wild looking. We have this bush in the southwest corner of the property that is wild and blooms for a very short time in the spring. I wish I knew what it is called. It is kind of pretty but mostly the beauty to me is in the fragrance of the bush. It smells like sugary fruit with a hint of grape. Whitney described it best saying it smells like "grape soda". It is such a beautiful scent. There used to be so many of them in this area before homes were built around us that you could take a walk and the whole area would exude this delightful aroma for a few weeks in the spring.
Shelbie went out and made me some cuttings. They just smell so delicious. I wonder if any of you know what this is?

I got this "cafe curtain" from Superbuzzy last week. I used it as a valance in my sewing room. It came pretty much just the way it is. I did turn under the sides but the top and bottom came like this with just a little fabric to trim off.

Sorry these are lousy pictures but my camera doesn't like taking photos into light. But you get the general idea. I know it was made for a cafe curtain but I thought it made a cute valance. I should have gotten a little more yardage to make it slightly fuller but I didn't know if it was going to work out so I only got the bare minimum and now joining it with another piece would spoil the flow. So I'll just let it go. I ordered red but it is much more like pink. I originally wanted full curtains for this window but it is such a pretty shaped window and gives such great light to the room I am glad I just have the shade and valance.

Peanut butter chocolate cupcakes. What could be better? More from my friend Laura. She is so nice to share. They were incredibly delicious.

Its a lovely thing to finish a quilt! Yay. This is the Christmas quilt I was to make to trade talents with my friend Jan, the artist. I will take it to the quilter this week. I'll still need to bind it when it comes back and then I'll have fulfilled my end of our trade with this and the baby quilts!! Its exciting to look forward to getting a painting. I've decided I want the painting to include some quilts on a clothes line, a farm house, and hollyhocks - a summer scene. I am confident she will paint something I will love and treasure.

I had a few requests for the banana cake recipe. This is a recipe from the 50s that my mother collected from Pearl Yeager, a member of our church in Reading. I don't have a frosting recipe to go with it that is the original she made with the cake, though I wish I did. I remember my mom making it and the frosting was thick and rich and she would use a fork to create a pattern on the top of the cake. Of course she would always make a layer cake but I'm too lazy a baker to do that. I am not sure my sisters know this but I have my mom's cookbook that the women in our church put together in the 60s. It has lots of great old fashioned recipes.

Banana Nut Cake:
Sift together: 2 1/2 Cups cake flour; 1 2/3 cups sugar; 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder; 1 1/4 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt

Cream together: 2/3 cup shortening; 1/3 cup buttermilk; 1 1/4 cup mashed bananas (I use 3); 2 eggs

Blend together and beat 3-4 minutes. Fold in 2/3 cup chopped black walnuts. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (watch it, you don't want to make this cake dry).

- nanette

Mother's Day

All my favorite things from my family . . .

Roses

Design books

Lemons

Fabric

Matryoshkas and "N" hankie

Make-up

And banana nut cake in honor of Freda, my mother, since it was her favorite.

-nanette

Happy Birthday Natalie - 26!

I'm crazy about Sarah Smith

"Look what I got in the Post!" (spoken in my best fake British accent)

This Sarah Smith tote is full of Sarah Smith goodies. Opening the package was like Christmas. Everything is so pretty and fresh looking.

Some of you may remember weeks ago I won a giveaway from Jane at Posy. Thanks again Jane! Jane is a fabulous blogger that lives in Devon, England and I've been reading Jane for almost 2 years now. I was so delighted to win her giveaway. Of course I loved the crochet heart she made - I have it hanging in my sewing room - but the main giveaway was for these fabulous Sarah Smith cleaning cloths. They are made and sold in the UK and I've never seen anything comparable to them before. I went to their website and was wowed by all their beautiful products. As someone who loves fabric it was fun to see such beautiful patterns and designs on kitchen accessories. I knew I had to find a way to buy some of their products for me and for unique gifts. And get this. My gushing about their products got me on their blog.

These tea towels above look like they were made from vintage fabric. But the cloth feels kind of like a cross between Ultrasuede and pellon. The material is soft, light weight, super absorbent and long lasting.

When you go to the home page for Sarah Smith you can register for a free cloth. Then look at all the delicious looking items they sell. You have to email them to place an order for the USA.

So I emailed Clive and Becky from the company, such great customer service and public relations. Becky called me at home so I could place my order. My sister-in-law's birthday is next week and I thought it would be fun to give her a couple Sarah Smith items and I had to get a couple things for me! After all Mother's Day is Sunday and my birthday is next month! Well along with my order Clive and Becky send me packages and packages of free cleaning cloths to give out to friends where I live and in the blogging world. I love the red ones Jane sent me but really all the colors and patterns are so pretty I'm not sure which is my favorite. Thanks Sarah Smith!

I've been so busy admiring each little package but next week I'll be sending a few out to some special blogging friends as well as 2 of my blog readers. So leave a comment I'll put your name in a drawing for a package of 3 Sarah Smith cleaning cloths. I'll announce 2 winners on May 15.

Sarah Smith has conquered the problem of plain or boring cleaning cloths and greatly improved on the absorbency. Now if they could just conquer unattractive patterns on tissue boxes! Wouldn't it be great to buy Kleenex with boxes in such fabulous designs!

-nanette

Every quilt tells a story

Lovely red log cabin quilt? Or painful reminder? This quilt is a hard quilt for me to look at but it teaches a valuable lesson and my only reason to share this sad story is that maybe it might prevent it from happening to someone else.

A couple years ago we were visiting my sister and her family at their beautiful secluded huge ranch outside of Afton Wyoming. We love it up there and its such a wonderful place to be with family. My sister Michelle had given me 2 quilt tops, backs and batting that her daughter-in-law, Amber, had sewn. Amber had taken a beginning quilting class and had made a log cabin quilt and a sampler block of the month type quilt. Michelle asked me to quilt the 2 tops for Amber and I was only too happy to do that. They were placed in a white plastic trash type bag to keep them clean and placed in our big van to bring home. (big clue - trash bag) The Wyoming ranch doesn't have trash collection, and they have to dispose of any trash themselves so my family had been keeping our own trash in a couple white trash bags to dispose of when we got back home. The trip home was complicated by a few family issues and when we got home I was preoccupied. The van was unloaded and we began putting things away and sorting laundry to be washed. I just didn't even think about the quilts in the bag. It never occured to me that they might be mixed up with the bags of trash. My family didn't realize that the quilts were in that bag and the bag with the quilt tops must have been thrown away. About a week later I went into my old sewing room to get the quilts (still not realizing they were thrown away) so I could lay them out and contemplate quilting them. When I couldn't find the bag I became frantic. The whole family was involved in trying to find the missing bag with the completed quilt tops. It started to dawn on me then that they were lost forever. I felt so careless and horrified at what I had let happen. There was no way to bring back those two carefully sewn quilt tops. Quilts are not only expensive to sew but the time and effort goes into them can never be replaced and in this instance there was also the learning involved for a new quilter that could not be reproduced. For days I was sick and I didn't know what to do. I was too ashamed to call my sister or my niece. In the end I knew I couldn't ever replace or give Amber back what I had lost so I just had to do my best to try to show her how sorry I was.

I remembered the colors of Amber's log cabin quilt and I went about finding fabric to make the blocks as similar as possible. It was a hard quilt to sew because I knew that no matter how pretty it might be, it would never be the log cabin quilt Amber made herself. I completed a log cabin quilt for her and then had it quilted. I still hadn't made that confession phone call though. I called the quilt store in Las Vegas where Amber had taken her sampler class and arranged for a gift certificate for her and also put together a quilt kit for Amber to make another quilt and I got my package ready to send off.

Making those 2 phone calls to my sister and Amber was such a hard thing to do. Of course they were both gracious and as forgiving as possible. My sister is such a kind and loving person and Amber already knew about the lost quilt tops by the time I phoned her. She was very sad but also forgiving and sweet. I'm sure they were both very disappointed and upset by my carelessness but they couldn't have been more loving and understanding to me. I'm sure it still hurts Amber when she thinks about those lost quilts.

So I learned several things from this awful experience. One - don't ever put quilts or tops in an opaque trash bag. I only put them in clear bags. Two - always be forgiving. They could have chosen to be unforgiving and grudge holders but they didn't. They were sad and unhappy about the unfortunate mistake but they put it aside because we are family and they knew I was heart sick. In turn it makes me realize I need to be more forgiving of others if I want to have forgiveness for my stupid mistakes.

The quilt shown above is not the quilt I made for Amber. It is one I made for myself out of the left over scraps from her log cabin quilt and some scraps from other quilts. The border is different from the border on her quilt. I chose my border with log cabins, family trees and bees to help me remember that family is the most important thing. And everytime I look at this quilt I remember the importance of forgiveness.

-nanette

Laurie's Sweater

Truth be told- this sweater was not originally for Laurie -- it was for Natalie - whose birthday is on Saturday. But when I realized how off I was on with my math - I didn't have the heart to frog the sweater, and decided to change the recipient. To make the sweater more Laurie - I changed it to have short sleeves - making it more of a summer sweater, in tune with the yarn I had chosen for this project.

The yarn is very lightweight - made with Elisabeth Lavold's Silky Wool. I used a pattern from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits. Very light-weight, very summery.
And, as you might have noticed, Laurie is not modeling this Sweater. Laurie is both shy, and lazy - so when it came time for her to model the sweater, she dissappeared, so, Chelsey volunteered to wear the sweater for these pictures. Thanks Chelsey!

-Shelbie

Dear Jane . . .(please squint when you look at these blocks)

Dear Jane,

I really had no idea when I started your Dear Jane quilt, quite what I was getting myself into. I thought it would be good to endeavor in a project outside my comfort zone. Just how far out of my comfort zone I didn't know at that time. As Anina has been giving us the easiest blocks first, I still may have some shock in front of me as to the lack there of regarding my technical skills. I just can't tell you, Jane, what a humbling project this is.

And Jane, I've not felt well the past few days and I keep thinking how much time I'm wasting just laying on the couch or in bed. So today when I started to feel better you can imagine how surprised I was to find several of the unfinished blocks completed! I hate to tell you this Jane, but they look kind of sloppy and the measuring wasn't so great on a few of them. In fact when I saw them I could only think of a old movie I saw called "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly". However, I had kind of a difficult time figuring out which one was the "good".

Anyway Jane, I think the blocks kind of look like this antique doll quilt I once saw that an 8 year old girl made in the late 1800s. I feel kind of bad putting these blocks in my quilt but you know, I don't want to hurt whoever made them. I am pretty sure it was the dog, Shadow. Here he is next to the blocks.
Don't you think he looks guilty?

I know I would NEVER be guilty of such poor workmanship myself. Or at the very least ADMIT to such childish stitching. So it must be the dog. Don't you agree?

Also, Jane. I'm going to continue with the lovely quilters in the Dear Baby Jane group. But let them know that I am not going to admit to, I mean I'm not the one that produced those blocks. If they knew that they might kick me out!

Jane you wouldn't believe the nice people out there in blog land I've met along the way here. Some of them left such nice get well comments. They really cheered me up. My neighbor Laura brought me these cupcakes too.
You'd like Laura, Jane. She is a chef and baker and her treats would make anyone feel better plus she's just about the best friend and neighbor any girl could want. These are 3 different kinds of chocolate cupcakes. Cherry chocolate, toffee chocolate and chocolate cheesecake cupcakes. So yummy. I'm sorry I can't offer you one Jane. But they are long gone now!

Goodnight Jane. Its been a tough few days and I've learned not to sew, I mean let the dog sew, when I'm sick. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

-nanette

The flu flew to my house

Happy May Day?

Blossoms and snow today, what a metaphor for life! - nanette

Yellow

Angela at Cottage Magpie is having a color challenge for April with a prize drawn May 4th to entice us to join with her in a little scavenger hunt around our homes for beautiful items in yellow. After browsing at my blog skip over to Angela's blog and read the rules to play the game along with everyone.

On a high shelf in my kitchen I have some vintage or vintage inspired things. My yellow there is a vintage flour sifter. It works just like new and is in wonderful shape. It is kind of a special "find" of mine.

Of course there is the Freda's Hive quilt featuring bees and lots of yellow. My grandfather Peter Nielson (Freda's father) was a beekeeper in Huntington Utah.

And I do love dishes and the shape of teapots. This one combines my love of bees and the love of teapots. This yellow teapot was given to me by daughter. Its purely for art sake. I don't drink tea.

Colorful hand towels hung by my kitchen sink make me happy. I like this yellow chicken towel.

I don't have lots of quilts that are yellow exclusively but thinking about quilts and this challenge has given me the idea that I need to make an all yellow quilt. So now thats on my list. But I do use yellow as an accent color in many or even most of my quilts.

I have lots of fabric with yellow on my shelves, its such a pleasing peaceful color, don't you think?

This is a vintage fabric in a glazed cotton with yellow and brown gingham and kitchen items dotted around the fabric. I remember my mother making glazed cotton curtains for our kitchen when I was a girl I think I will wash this (the glaze washes right out) and then use it in my kitchen themed quilt I'm planning for later this year.

Another yellow also given to me by family.

I have yellow walls in my kitchen and more of a golden yellow/green paint color in my sewing room and living room. Yellow surrounds me and it really is a cheery color of spring.

What is a pretty yellow in your home? - nanette

swatches

I am sending fabric swatches to my friend Jodie, who lives in Philadelphia. We went to college together and I have been telling her for years that I have a fantastic collection of owl fabrics (our unofficial school mascot) and that I would send her bits and pieces of them. Most of my owl fabrics (probably more like all of them) came from my mom. She has searched ebay and placed the winning bid on little bits and large bits of fantastic antique, vintage or Japanese owl fabrics and passed them on to me for birthdays, Christmas or JUST BECAUSE! One day I will make an owl quilt out of all this but for now it is nice to admire them. I also put a few other fabric samples in the batch of some other fabrics Jodie also might like. It is so fun to send a package! - Natalie