A Quilters Dream

I went to sew with my quilting buddies Rita and Penny today. Perfect way to start the week ... especially this week. We are on the final count down to my daughter's wedding and from here forward I will be in full blown wedding duties.

So today as I packed up to go to Rita's lovely home I tossed in my camera. My goal was to take some snaps of her home to share with you her beautiful quilting as well has share her ideas on how to use these beauties. Get a nice cup of tea or a glass of wine and join me as I guide you through her "quilted home!"

Upon entering her home this is one of the first things that captures my eye! A beautiful wrought iron quilt rack chock full of lovely quilts. Through the french doors is the dining room where the three of us make magic!!

I LOVE this piece. This is a quilted piece and it is not small by any stretch of the imagination! Rita framed it and has it hanging in the small hallway going into her kitchen.

 

This is one corner in her kitchen .... yes, the tiny framed piece hanging above the red box is another framed quilt ...

LOVE this pantry!! It is all enclosed with a darling door that says "Pantry" to provide privacy and a neat and tidy look. She had a bottle of Worcester sauce fall and break from our recent earthquakes we've been experiencing. That is such fun to clean up!

Directly across the pantry is the laundry room. Yes, yes, sh has this adorable thing hanging in her laundry room!! No one sees it but she and her hubby and nosy people like me! She bought this little key rack at the Goodwill cheap. Then she gave it a complete makeover with paint and a quilted insert. Love this too!

A nice corner in the dining room ... a vintage cabinet filled with cheery red dinnerware.

If you follow my blog you may recall that Penny and I presented Rita with this door box for her birthday last December. Never one to follow the rules Rita opted to hang her door box on a shutter in her living room! I think it just looks perfect in here.

On the table below the door box are these adorable little birdies sitting on old spools. I love these and it adds just a perfect touch of Spring!

Oh my, this little nook is just full of quilts and other cozy goodies. Leaving this room we will be heading down the hall towards the bedrooms and Rita's cherished sewing rooms ... yep "rooms" as in two!

I don't know about you but I know I don't have beautiful hand crafted quilts this close to my potty ... Just sayin ...

Room 1 - The piecing palace ....

Room 2 - Rita does her quilting in this space ...

Question for you .... Do you decorate the out side of your doors in your hallway? Rita does, yep, with quilts.

This cute wagon seat is another Goodwill treasure, it is sitting atop an old trunk in front of the master bedroom window.

This little quilt says it all .... Rita found some cross stitched pieces in a family members unfinished goods. Being the creative, clever person she is she cleaned them up and quilted around them. Isn't this a lovely tribute to her loved one ...

In closing I want to share with you this beautiful lunch. Look at all the pretty colors on my plate. Fresh fruits, sweet potato chips and a delicious apple/chicken salad sandwich. Oh my is was GOOD!

And we wouldn't be women without dessert ... tapioca pudding, bunt cake and a cookie. The beautiful cabinet behind my plate is all inlaid wood. It looks quilted doesn't it!!! 

 Now for fun I want you to count all the quilts you see in the pictures and post the number in the comments area at the bottom of this post. If you get the correct number you will win a  ...... QUILT!!

A Tiny Bit of Easter!!

With my house guests just a few days away I have been cleaning and sorting and spiffing things up at the homestead. My mind has been wrapped around my daughters wedding for months now and I actually forgot how close Easter is! With it's arrival just weeks away I decided to do a tiny bit of Easter/Spring time decorating. I need to keep it low as we are still shaking here and things are continuing to slip and slide onto the floor!

I have had these blocks for close to 30 years and I still LOVE them. They are out most of the entire year heralding in seasons, parties or a special event. 

A few weeks ago Longaberger was offering a cute, colorful Jelly Bean basket for sale. They were just the perfect size for my two adorable granddaughters. Until I box up there Easter goodies they will be decorating Far Away Grandma's dining room table.

The little two toned pink one is filled with some Longaberger wooden eggs, salt water taffies that I "borrowed" from my husbands candy stash and a Lonaberger fabric square to add a bit of color.

Here is the other one, a cute little purple basket sitting on top of the first of our four miniature picnic baskets.  Love the mini basket colors, absolutely looks like spring!

A close up!!

The whole gang together along with Mr. Bunny hovering over head gives my table just enough to remind me Easter is on it's way.

Spring would not be Spring with out a few burlap Sunflowers now would it?? Hummm, there is something a little dull about burlap but I do love it and the flowers.

Before I sign off for today I just had to share a wedding tid bit. A dear friend of mine delivered her gift to my house for the bride and groom. You have to admit is is so pretty!

"Simply" Beautiful ....

Shakin, Rattlin and Rollin here in California!

Holy moly it's been quite a shaky 24 hours. Living in Fullerton has given my husband and a front row seat at the most recent earthquake activity in So Cal! It began last night with a small shake ... just enough to remind us we're not in charge. An hour later the earth below us let out a huge sigh and the whole house shook. My collections where flying everywhere. With my "Simplify" sign landing almost at my feet I was abruptly reminded that I have too much "STUFF." Surprisingly I had only two broken items, a Civil War solider who jumped off the wall cabinet lost his head and my Donkey on wheels rolled off the bookcase onto the floor.

He is suffering with two broken legs but with the help of Mr. Elmer he will stand again and resume his duty which reminds us to VOTE!

With broken water mains, shattered windows and crumbling chimneys we are very lucky. All we have to do now is put up with those pesky aftershocks!

An American Icon!

This beautiful hand crafted basket is being created by the Longaberger Co. through March 31 2014. Cost $129.00 includes 2 white star tie-ons. A protector is also available for $21.00. If you are interested in this "Lone Star" state beauty email me at Baskets4anita@aol.com!!

 

Tea Time with Jane

Today was such a fun and interesting day. My friend Rita made reservations for herself, Penny and I at the Yorba Linda to have "tea" in the style of Jane Austen. I don't exactly know what I was expecting but it was so much more. As soon as we walked in I knew it was going to be fun an knowledgeable at the same time!

Scattered around the room were several ladies wearing their versions of period clothing during the "Regency" era in England. Some costumes were just plain awesome while others needed a little help!

Rita waded through the crowd and found us a table up at the very front. Once I was seated I realized there were period dancers lined up on the stage!! Oh my, this was going to be right up my alley.

We settled into our seats and shortly were instructed to get our "tea luncheon." 

Our meal consisted of Passties ... a pastry filled with beef, potatoes and veggies in a gravy. Very good and very filling! We also had something the British would call Rock Salad and a strawberry trifle. And of course tea.

 Prior to our tea time meal we took a little quiz located in the Winchester Times. The quiz was to determine which Heroine we were from an Austen novel. Very interesting questions to be sure. Alas, I was to discover I am a 50/50 heroine of Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility and Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. If you have read Austen novels you will know these two characters are similar as well as different .... that's me, different!

Penny and Rita ready to dig into our lunch ....

While we enjoyed our meal a guest speaker shared his knowledge of 18th century food and drink. I learned a lot about the necessity and health benefits of beer! Yup, beer. Because water was for the most part full of pollutants and diseases it was not readily consumed. The different classes would drink beers, punches made from fruits and alcohol, wines and if you were a "navy" man you probably had developed a taste for Rum! The peasants were the largest consumers of beer while the upper classes and Nobles were more comfortable with wines and punches. Somehow he never got to "teas." 

 

And finally the Village dancers!  These men and women come together one a month in the "village" of Anaheim to enjoy the dances of the 18th century. This was so fun to watch and they seemed to be having a wonderful time as well. I recorded some of the dances but I am just not talented enough to get in into my blog.

Hope you enjoyed my tour of Austen in the 22nd century!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Has Sprung ....

 As a little girl my mom would sing me her silly little songs and recite funny poems. When I realized that today was the first day of Spring a memory of my mom popped in my head. On the first day of Spring mom would hurry into my room to wake me up singing this little ditty ....

"Oh Spring has sprung, the grass is riz I wonder where the birdies izzz" She would laugh and tickle my feet to get me up and going. I have so many wonderful memories of the way she made my life so special and fun.

 So today I say to all of you "Spring has Sprung" my dear friends enjoy these days before the firey days of summer!

Ode to Spring

By Thomas Gray

Lo! where the rosy-bosom'd Hours,

         Fair Venus' train appear,

Disclose the long-expecting flowers,

         And wake the purple year!

The Attic warbler pours her throat,

Responsive to the cuckoo's note,

         The untaught harmony of spring:

While whisp'ring pleasure as they fly,

Cool zephyrs thro' the clear blue sky

         Their gather'd fragrance fling. 

The above Ode To Spring is just a small clip of the lengthy ode ... these may be the little birdies my mom was searching for in her song.

This little birdie hails from Virginia ... Spring hasn't arrived there as of yet!

A custom made box from Misi Axel ... Love it's simplicity

Adorable birds from Bay Rays Child, so CUTE! You can find her at her 1840's blog

Getting Caught Up

The house guest has gone, bridal showers are over and I finally have had a chance to finish up my completed quilt projects and a rag rug! In two weeks from tomorrow my cousin from Ohio and my dear friend from Wyoming will be flying in for the wedding festivities so I am busy finishing up projects and getting their rooms ready! This will be my cousins first visit to California and guess what she wants visit??? Disneyland you say .... nope, the beaches!! nope, Hollywood ... and that would also be a no. She is eager to visit the legendary Queen Mary docked in my home town of Long Beach and ... roll the drums .... the Presidential Library of Ronald Regan. Mind you, I live a few miles north of Disneyland and a few miles west of the Nixon Library! Isn't that always the case. So, the ship and the library is where we will go. I think I'll toss in a quick visit to Hollyweird and the beach as well. After all, the Queen is at the beach for heavens sake!!

Now back to my projects. I am very pleased with my completed two toned Drops of Honey ...

The quilter did such a beautiful job on this for me. The grey squares really pop! Somehow I ended up with one additional square so I took advantage of the mistake and made a little pillow! I just love them!!

 

 

 While shopping the many booths at Road to California I found this cute little scrappy thimbles pattern. It was fun and so easy. These are the kind of projects that are fun to do in between the difficult ones.

Perfect little doll quilt size. The rag rug is my second one and I really enjoyed making these. It's the perfect way to use up misc. fabric scraps and put them to good use.  Now I have two new rugs, one in my bathroom and another in the kitchen whoo hoo!!

 

Spring Time with Longaberger ...

With Spring lurking just around the corner I have begun to notice bulb flowers popping up out of the nice warm ground yelling out "it's here, it's here, 

Spring has come at last!" Along with longer days and pretty bulbs the Longaberger Co. has jumped on the Springtime band wagon and introduced their adorable miniature picnic basket collection!

The first of the series in the Spring "Traditional Picnic" style.

You have to admit, it is ADORABLE! And look at all of those amazing colors. They remind me of the confetti that trickled down on my husband and I when we set sail for Alaska. Just happy, happy!

 

 

 

 

 

One of these precious baskets will preview every season. Summer will be next featuring our American Heritage, the Flag of the united states.

 The mini flag picnic basket is modeled after our medium market basket, Dave Longaberger's personal favorite. Top left is the mini for fall woven in the form of our medium gathering basket with a double hinged lid. And finally .... TADA, the Santa Belly style! This will be a holiday favorite creation on a cake basket form. I just love them all!

 It's never to late to become a Collector's Club member. If you would like to join the "club" email me at baskets4anita@aol.com and I will take care of it for you!! 

Miniatures aren't your thing??? How about one of these...

 These specially woven and antique "aged" baskets are also a specialty available exclusively to Collectors Club members. These have received additional attention to detail with fine sanding and staining to give them a time worn look.

 

 Finally a 24 our opportunity to purchase one of these adorable pouring vessels. Available in all seven Woven Traditions colors one of these will look perfect on every dining table or along side your favorite tea cup! These hold 16 oz. providing two perfect cups of tea!

Final Bridal Shower ...

As the day of my daughter's wedding rapidly approaches I hosted her final shower. Invited were my long time friends whom have known her over a long period of time. It was such a wonderful day, we shared stories, memories, a delicious meal and of course gifts!

The table is set complete with a menu and a small gift for each guest as a sign of appreciation for joining us.

Some bright yellow tulips provided just the right pop of color!

Tiffany and myself ... she had a trial run of her wedding hair style prior to the luncheon. This however is not it! It has been all pinned up in the back so we don't see the final "do."

The Ladies!

This was one of her gifts that I was attempting to store in my purse for her ... rolled up in the little bad is $$$$$!

Her cake cutting set ....

Ms. G and Pam getting better acquainted!

Tiffany and Ms. G.... AKA Donna

 I had invited Shawn and wanted him to surprise Tiffany at the shower. The plan was he would arrive late and join us for lunch. The surprise was they wouldn't let him off work and he was unable to come. He was so disappointed! For fun I had purchased a fun gift for him to open as well.

Look at that big smile, he is such a happy man!

Isn't this just so cute! He plans on wearing it to his bachelor party. I also gave him some "fun" G String underwear ... I won't be posting a picture of those!

 There was also an empty seat the table. It would have been my mom's (Mimie's) 86th birthday today if she were still living. We all knew and loved her and decided the seat was for her. I know she was there with us in spirit, I could feel her with me all day. She would have been the life of the party .. she always was.