It's A Small Honor

That is the name of the pattern from which that little mini in the center was created.

 It was designed by Diane Hansen and was published in the July/August 2003 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. It finishes at 4"x6". The pattern was sent to me by a special blogging friend and she knew I would love this mini pattern. Wish I could leave it hanging there, but I donated it to the family reunion auction on Saturday and my younger sister bought it. I was happy to see her get it. Maybe I'll make one for me someday. : )

 

The pattern is foundation paper pieced. I machine quilted it all, except the final round of quilting in the outer border. That is done by hand.

That little piece is really all of the quilting I have done since I got home from visiting DD#1 in NH. But I do want to share a couple of quilty things from my visit with her. If you are ever in the area of Milton, NH, and you love primitive style, be sure to drop in and visit Camille at the shop in the basement of her home. What a treat.

This is my daughter and Camille. Camille is looking at my new grandbaby, but due to the rules governing the private adoption, I can't share photos of the baby on public social media for a few more months. But you can tell by the look on Camille's face that she is very cute! : )

Click on the small photos below to enlarge them and take a tour of some of the displays in this very fun and friendly shop.

 This was what came home with me from Evergreen Country Primitives. Wonderful fabric finds, and great wool, patterns, and notions.

The other quilt shop experience I had in NH took place in Center Harbor.

I just happened to be visiting DD#1 the week of the Keepsake Quilting Tent Sale. I have often heard about it, especially on Victoria's blog, but never thought I would be there. Tried to meet up with Victoria, but had a little family emergency and couldn't get there until later in the day. My daughter and I each filled a scrap bag as full as could be, I bought a book, and these lovely fabrics.

When I got back home to Utah I found two delightful surprises--packages of scraps from a couple of blog friends. I appreciate them thinking of me. I do love scrap quilts and you can never have too many scraps! I emptied my scrap bag from K.Q. and piled them with all of the scraps from the packages together by color family or genre (if there is such a thing in fabric).

One last thing. Saturday was the 37th anniversary of DH and I. We spent the day at a family reunion for which my siblings and I were responsible, and then came home and crashed. But as a parting shot, here we are in our true characters. *LOL*

Until next time,
Janet O.

Back Home Again--So Much To Share!

Still trying to get back into routine, but thought I could share a few things with you.
The night before we flew out I had an idea and I pulled out the little "Building houses from scraps" kit. I put all of the houses out on a design board and started switching up the pieces, so they took on a scrappy look. This was the result (excuse my very thready design board).

I have not pieced by hand in years (other than hexies--and that is a whole different thing). My goodness, my skills were rusty! I couldn't even seem to stitch a straight line. When the lines are stamped on the fabric, that is pretty silly not to be able to follow them.
By the time we touched down in Manchester, NH I only had 1 house finished and another nearly done (we were up at 2:45 a.m. to catch our flight, so I dozed a lot). We were always on the go while visiting DD#1 and her DH, so I didn't pick it up again until awaiting our flight home. I got three houses finished, total. I need to unpick my first attempt. Those Y-seams stumped me at first, and house #1 is pretty wonky. It is the house in the upper right of the photo below--isn't even the same size as the others. I am really liking these little scrappy houses. Tempting to just work on them, but I am going to try and keep them as my "on the go" project, and let it get finished whenever! Thanks again to my dear friend Annie Miksch for this thoughtful gift!

Since DD#1 lives 10 minutes from Keepsake Quilting, a visit there was inevitable. Blogging friends Grace (acityquilter blog) and Vic (Park Hill Farm blog) had arranged to make the effort to meet up with us there.

Vic, me, and Grace

Tough decisions made at the cutting counter.

I had been saving my pennies for this experience. I had been warned that Keepsake did not have a large selection of CW repro fabrics, but must say I was very surprised at just how small it was. MY LQS, whose selection is not huge, carries more than Keepsake. Luckily, KQ had very different lines of fabric from what I can get at home, so I found plenty to purchase. Now, if it is batiks you are looking for, you will find a room full! That overwhelmed me. I had to walk away and think about it and return with a narrow focus of what I wanted to buy.






After that very hard work of making decisions, carrying bolts of fabric and opening the wallet, it was time for nourishment. Vic and Grace took us to a lovely establishment called The Canoe, where we dined and chatted and laughed.



The day before this grand adventure Angie and I had visited Quilted Threads in Henniker, NH. This shop was a recommendation from Mrs. Goodneedle, and it did not disappoint!

 So here is my haul. To the left is the fabric, Aurifil threads and Valdani flosses I picked up at Keepsake Quilting.

On the right is the fabric I purchased in Quilted Threads.






The Primitive Gatherings pattern was at Quilted Threads, and Patchwork Stars was in the sale bin at Keepsake.

Angie and I have been making pineapple and log cabin ornaments for my other daughter's fundraiser in November. Angie has her share all finished and I was able to provide them transportation back to Utah. Aren't they lovely? Now I need to get my share finished!

When we were at Quilted Threads Angie found some 1/4" hexie papers. Oh, my goodness, they are small. She vacillated as to whether or not to buy them, but they finally found their way home with her. The night before we left she actually started playing with them. Can you believe this? Can you even see it? I left the needle and thread in the photo so you could get the proper perspective. That is a small spool of thread.

We had a wonderful trip. There was so much to do in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. I will leave you with this shot as DH and I took a canoe ride in the canal behind our daughter and SIL's apartment. It ends up in Lake Waukewan.

Until next time,
Janet O.