A Little Something

A small finish for Feb, this little coin quilt will go in the Christmas gift box. Now I have two gifts finished, I hope I can keep this going throughout the year, even if I make one a month I'll be happy. Thanks Darlene and Cheryl for the encouragement to keep making gifts.

Just because cats and quilts are so sweet together, Boo all curled up on a flannel quilt. I took this picture really fast because it not too often I see him sleeping. Boo has too much energy and usually spends the day outside.

Lula sleeps most of the day upstairs on this quilt or sometimes I find her stretched out on the heater, she doesn't go outside. That's the life of cats and quilts, pretty relaxed.

Happy Quilting.

Slowly

I'm slowly getting back in to sewing again. It took me a week to get back to a regular sleeping pattern and NOT waking up at 2am.....grrrrr, it usually only takes a couple of days. I worked a lot last week as well, so that didn't help. I did manage to sew this table runner using the same Moda Flurry pattern, I made the larger Christmas quilt last Dec. I thought I'd try something fun and could be used all year or maybe a birthday or something.

This stitchery was done during my trip, I used the Sulky transfer stuff, this is the first time I tried this product and it worked out well. Saves on tracing and is soft enough to stitch with.

To remove the Sulky fabric you get it wet and the Sulky stuff dissolves in water. Here is a picture of the bag this stitchery is about to become. Stay tuned, I hope mine will look as cute as the picture. The pattern is in the book called "Some Kind of Wonderful". I'm also just about finished the binding on a little coin quilt....woohoo.....it's a start!

Happy Quilting and Stitching.

Feb Love

Happy Valentines Day!

Patchwork in Florence

We are home again after our vacation in Paris, Rome and Florence, turned out to be the coldest winter in Europe in almost 30 years. We missed the snowfall in Rome but found some snow in the small medieval town of Siena about 2 hrs north of Rome. We didn't stay there long but really enjoyed the narrow streets with lots of shopping and good food in the local restaurants also know as Osteria's. As we moved onto Florence about 1 hr from Siena we found it cold but no snow. Florence and Siena are very similar only Florence is a lot bigger. The weather didn't stop us from enjoying both towns. Walking around the streets is amazing with something different around every corner. A twenty minute walk from our hotel in Florence we found a quilt shop called Agomago.

This shop had a bit of everything, lots of pretty floral fabrics, Japanese books and fabrics to go with the books. I didn't buy much fabric as the prices were very expense at $28 per meter. It's fun to find such a sweet shop while traveling.

You'll find lots of FQ's and notions along this wall.

The shop window display is very pretty. I found all the dress and shoe shops had wonderfully put together displays in the windows, the store fronts are very small and they make the best of it. I wish I'd take more pictures of windows.

The shop also carried knitting and needlework supplies.The hearts in the window caught my eye right away. So it feels very good to be home after seeing some fantastic cities and all the history that goes with it. I think I've seen enough museums and sculptures to last me a while. I'm looking forward to getting back to regular sewing and playing with fabrics.

Happy Quilting.

Rome is Beautiful

A few random pictures of Rome. There are fountains all over Rome, some big like this one and some small along side the street, all with fresh drinking water. This beautiful fountain called Trevi Fountain was rediscovered after a movie was filmed here in 1944 (I think) called Three Coins something, I can't remember.

There are shops and buildings all around this square. We made a wish by throwing a coin over the right shoulder, I may not have the tradition completely correct. Throw a coin over your shoulder and you'll return to Rome....something like that.

We went to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. These next few pictures are actually the floor in the Sistine Chapel.  DH was giving me a hard time for taking pictures of the floor when the beauty is actually overhead, my neck was getting tired.....soooo. Since they didn't allow pictures of the walls and ceiling, I looked down and this is what I saw.....now I can take some pictures.

This is as close as I can get for posting something quilt related. All over the floor was the traditional quilting patterns. Do you think ideas for quilting patterns came from here....well maybe, not sure.

This is St. Peter's square, not too many people around, not even the Pope.

The left side of St. Peter's Square.

This is the oldest church in Rome, sorry I don't recall with name. Like all the churches, it's gorgeous inside.

This is the Roman Forum near the Colosseum.We avoided the 2 hour lines for the Colosseum by getting our tickets at the Forum which is entrance for both places.  I'll show pictures of the Colosseum later. We visited the location of Caesars remains and where his house once stood.  On a side note, I seem to have caught a Roman head cold somewhere along the way.  It's only taking me down for part of a day which I slept mostly. Did a bit of stitching and relaxed.