A Thing of Beauty

Hello, hello, is anybody still out there?This has been one heck of a winter. We still have about two feet of snow on the ground but at least we have sunshine and blue skies today.I recently treated myself to a new friend for spring sewing. Look at her; she's a sweet celery colored Singer featherweight - just right for getting into the spring sewing swing. I know what you are thinking. Some of you may think I have enough sewing machines, others of you know and understand. Really, this wasn't just a new, for play, machine. Really.Miss P and her friends are at just the right age for learning to sew. SO, I was thinking that I could get back into teaching kids sewing classes and maybe even have a kids sewing camp this summer. I'd like to have five kids sewing at a time so I really need ONE MORE featherweight.Still, I need to get her broken in and make sure she'll be a good machine for classes.See, I have a fresh spring colored project ready to go.I'll be making a baby quilt from Jaybird's Science Fair pattern. It's always good to have a few baby quilts on hand.I'm hoping for this winter to melt away into the past and happier, sunnier, less stressful days for sewing to sprout up.

2014 The Year of the Red and White Quilt

I know many quilters were inspired by the "Infinite Variety:Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" show sponsored by the American Folk Art Museum in 2011. I certainly was. I made a high energy red and white quilt last year and am eager to make another red and white quilt.Did you see that SewCalGal is hosting a year of Red and White Quilt challenges? The design challenge scheduled later in the year may be just the motivation I need to get another red and white quilt designed and made.The first event over at SewCalGal is a quilt show of Red and White Quilts made before 2014.My entry is this quilt made from the traditional Grand Right and Left block.I made the quilt and wrote the directions up as a free pattern on the Fairfield website.My original post for this quilt is here.Head on over and see the rest of the red and white quilts entered in the virtual quilt show. 

Fat Quarterly - issue 16 - SCRAPS

The latest issue of Fat Quarterly is available today!Go get yours, it has lots of great scrappy projects in it, including this one of mine! I am SO glad I can finally share it with you! I worked on this quilt most of last fall.It's called The Whole Nine Yards because it uses nine yards of background fabric!It took a long time to make but I really enjoyed the process. There are loads of little half square triangles in there and I got to dig DEEP in the scrap bin.  

Most Snow EVER

It's official, southeast Michigan has had the snowiest January on record. Crazy.We've had our share of snow, cold, wind, and snow drifts.B has been enjoying the snow for skiing. He even got Miss P her own ski gear this week. Here she is having her first lesson on Saturday.I walked the fields with them yesterday.We came up on a rafter of turkeys. They flew up in the air and landed in the tree tops in the distance. B says he often surprises them when he is out on his skis.I've been keeping busy but not posting here as often. I'll continue to share the big news here but Instagram is so much easier for quick "behind the scenes" posts. So, if you miss me over here, follow me on instagram - I'm LynnCarsonHarris there.I've been trying to do some secret sewing but it seems I'm having a hard time keeping up with that too. I do hope to be back here on a more regular basis when the warmer weather hits. For now, I need to go throw a few more logs in the woodstove and do a little stitching.I hope you are keeping warm (or cool if you are in the southern hemisphere) and doing things you enjoy. What are your favorite winter activities? 

January Doings

We are back from a week of cleaning out and preparing my mother-in-law's house to go on the market. It's a lovely mid century home in northern Virginia. After all the cleaning and moving there and seeing the house stripped down to just the basics, I'm inspired to declutter my own home. I'll never get it THIS empty unless we move out. Still, I think purging a bit of our own clutter will be good for us.We took part of a day and rode the metro into DC and did a bit of sight seeing around the Smithsonian.My pick of the day was to see the "Workt by Hand" exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit. I only wish they had allowed photography. I did buy the book but haven't read it through yet.Miss P loves the Natural History museum.

Barn Quilt

I've been wanting to share this quilt with you but I needed some helpers to hold it for photographing. D was eager to help as long as he got to climb out on the roof of the barn. Hm. This is a BIG quilt.I made this king size quilt for B's parents back in 1999.  B's dad had told me that he always wanted a handmade quilt on his bed but had never had one. I let him look through some of my quilt books and he chose this Dahlia pattern, Dahlia Delight, from Quick and Easy Scrap Quilts by Leisure Arts.The hand applique blocks made a nice travel project.I hand quilted this one on a big frame in our living room and had a couple of friends who came over to helped quilt it. The boys also each put in a few stitches. They weren't very old then!It is nice to have this one at our house now. M has been sleeping under it while he's been home for Thanksgiving break. It has a flannel sheet for the batting and is quite warm. 

Slow Progress

Here's a little peek at some recent sewing progress.I've ditch stitched the whole quilt and added some little pebbles for texture. I'm still deciding on  how to quilt the larger open spaces in this one.The last few days, however, my sewing room has looked like this.The sewing machines (that's the longarm on the left), my computer, and desk were all encased in plastic bubbles. B was doing some plumbing work for the new bathroom upstairs that involved taking down some of the ceiling in my sewing room for access. He did not want to be blamed for any damage caused by plaster grit and dust!

This and That

Things have been a bit hectic around here. I hope to get back to regular posting soon.B has been clearing out his mom's house and getting it fixed up, painted, and ready for sale. I'm trying to merge some of her items into our home, like this dessert china set that was hers. I plan to use it for birthday parties - we'll start next week with a special half century birthday celebration!Back in September I went to Gwen Marston's last quilt retreat. She is retiring and will not be hosting the retreats any longer. The good news is that long time retreat members Pat Holly and Sue Nickels will be taking over. The 2014 retreat is called Quilting the Quilt. Deciding on and designing the quilting for a quilt is the biggest hurdle for me in making a quilt. I signed up for this retreat next year and I know I'll learn a lot from these two talented ladies. This will be a great workshop for thinking about the quilting even from the very beginning of a quilt design. I am eager to learn a lot about Quilting the Quilt from these two talented ladies. Registration is open for next year so go sign up for a great retreat - don't delay, the second week is already full.

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Colonial Halloween

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Miss P finished her costume last night just after bed time. Whew. She thought it was a lot of work and there may have been some unhappy words at the thought of HAND sewing the snaps and inner ties. In the end she did the hand sewing and was THRILLED to have done it herself.She told me this morning that she thought she was smiling in her sleep all night!She put one of her dress up tutus on underneath to give it a little fullness at the top of the skirt; it was pretty droopy without the extra fluff.It is a good thing that the dress is long because we didn't have time to complete the look with period footwear.A colonial dress has been on her wish list since our visit to Colonial Williamsburg two years ago. I am happy that SHE is happy.The pattern is from my vintage children's sewing pattern collection.edit to add- I helped speed things along by using the ruffler foot on the featherweight to gather/ruffle the lace. She glue basted the lace to the front panel before stitching - that was much easier than stitching the wiggly pinned lace.

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Tiny Pieces

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I'm back from a whirlwind trip to Houston for fall Quilt Market. I haven't fully digested it all yet but I wanted to share some of my favorites from the antique booths.You all know I have a weakness for quilts with tiny pieces. Have a look at these. I put my lens cap in the photos for size comparison.I love a good feathered star. There was a double row of the little sawteeth all the way around the quilt.These snowball blocks were pretty sweet.How about these little fans? Sigh.It makes me want to cut and sew all my scraps.This star block was interesting in that not all of those star points worked out the same. This was made by a "make it work" quilter. The slice of muslin at the point on the right sure adds interest to the quilt. 

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Halloween Costume Pattern - from the Archives

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Miss Petunia wants to make her own Halloween costume this year. She chose this pattern from my vintage collection and we ordered the paisley fabric online.My job while she is at school today is to make a "muslin" of the bodice so that we can have a fitting after school. She will make the final version herself.

September

It seems that September has come and gone in a blur. I haven't posted much at all. We've adjusted to the school schedule and are enjoying the lovely fall weather.Miss P has been wanting to wax leaves again so she and I went out this morning hunting for some colorful leaves.It is a bit early yet for the colorful maples but we did find a few small leaves to dip in wax today. I'm sure we'll try again in a few weeks.We've done a bit of canning and other fall activities as well as had a birthday party that required 22 candles!I hope to get some sewing done as the weather gets colder and we spend less time outside. I do have a Halloween costume to make. I should get started on that!!

Instagram Photos

Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts
Here’s the layout with all but one block done. I’ll finish that last block when I get more of the baby poop green/mustard fabric. I put out the call and the internet provided! This top will be finished soon! This is a remake of an 1870s
I’m finally getting around to putting these stars together. I made the stars a few years ago and have been on the hunt for the perfect setting fabrics. These @carolynfriedlander prints are the perfect match for the 1800s reproduction prints in