Hello Henry!

Working on watercolor painting skills.  Here's Henry, my first pet portrait in watercolor.  

Pickle Time

June is almost too early, but when fresh pickling cucumbers like these appear at the local Asian market, it's time for crispy, crunchy homemade refrigerator pickles.   Mine is a small-batch recipe for Easy Refrigerator Pickles, and they are yummy.  Fresh dill and a Bay leaf gathered from my very own garden make home canning a happy event in my kitchen.

Fresh dill from the garden

Potted Bay Leaf plant

Rose and Honeysuckle

A simple posy; rose and honeysuckle from my garden

Watercolor rendition of rose and honeysuckle posy

Realistic Watercolor Rose

First layer 6/5/2016

Finished 6/7/2016

Switching gears from quilting and gardening where I have spent most of my time lately, I am having fun with watercolor painting.  Here is a rose I am working on from a class, Realistic Watercolor, Step by Step, offered by artist Anna Mason, through Craftsy.com.

Doves live here

Morning at the Casita and see what I see; two doves on top of the swing set.  It is spring and they are here every day; there must be a nest nearby.

One Jelly Roll to Make a Quilt

I purchased a quilt kit from Craftsy that included one jelly roll, 5 yards of fabric for the background, sashing and borders, and 2/3 yard of fabric for the binding, all to make one quilt top.  I will need another 5-1/2 yards for the quilt backing.  This quilt will measure 72-1/2" x 85" when completed.  In this picture are squares and triangles that I spent a good amount of time cutting, using a rotary cutter. Now I'm ready to piece together the blocks; here's my first one, 12" square.

Another basket; on a roll

On a roll; two completed.  How many more shall I make?  These will make nice Christmas gifts, I think.

Small fabric basket

Now that I've got bags and duffles out of the way, I have time to play with charm packs and fat quarters that I've been collecting.  I purchased this Basket of Charms pattern by Sweet Jane at a quilt show.  I chose to make the smallest of three baskets, which measures about 4"x 6".  See the 2" square pincushion made from extra scraps?  This is a handy basket for keeping needle, thread and scissors at my side when stitching and mending.

Embroidered Drawstring Backpacks

Personalized drawstring backpacks made for the girlies by Grandma; now finished and on their way to Idaho.  I think I've got bags and travel cushions out of my system for the moment.  

Calico Quilter's Casita; Spring 2016

Angels welcome here

Angels welcome here.

  

April 2016; In the garden...

Spots of lavendar, rose geranium and sweet alyssum grow amidst a mint patch which is kept in check by hardpan soil.

A view of my Calico Quilter's garden in the springtime.  It's not a large area, but every garden requires daily maintenance to thrive.  I spend early mornings in the garden, watering and tending the plants.  Roses do well here.

Child's Duffle Bag and Drawstring Backpack

Still cranking out bags for the granddaughters.  These are for Natalie.  Nat's 4 years old (almost 5) and currently into gymnastics.  I lined the duffle with this very cute print fabric and with the leftovers I made a drawstring/cinch bag backpack, just the right size for Natalie.  The bag measures about 13" wide by 15" long.  I looked at a lot of drawstring backpack patterns before I came up with this version of my own.  I used Butterick 5934 to make this duffle.  I had no struggles sewing this one and have made it twice already; definitely a go-to bag patterns.

Dance bags in the making

Chloe is an endearing grandchild who loves her ballet lessons.  When she was younger I made a ballet bag for her, pink canvas with black gingham trim, custom-sized to her small frame.  Chloe is 7 years old now and she needs a bigger bag.  So, here it is sewn up in  red, with hot pink trim; Chloe has loved the color red for a while now.  Thank goodness for granddaughters which gives me good reason to use the embroidery feature on my very fancy sewing machine.  Chloe's bag...all done!  Next I am working on a bag for Natalie who is our little 4-year-old gymnast.  After that, I'll be making a dance bag for Jaden who will be 13 in July.  Three fabulous granddaughters, Jaden, Chloe and Natalie. We are so blessed : )

Travel Pillow

Making travel pillows for my girls.  This one measures 8-1/2" x 16".  That handle will be very handy when on the go.  Very easy project; I'll be making more of these.  The only thing I will do differently is to add a pocket on the back side.  

Little pillows

Found this Pillow Pal pattern on Etsy (Nanoo Designs).  The finished pillow measures about 10-1/2"x13-1/2" not including head and appendages.  I embroidered those sweet faces using two strands of black embroidery thread.  The hair and rosy cheeks were ironed into place using Lite Steam-A-Seam II.  I blanket-stitched around the edges of the hair and cheek circles to finish the raw edges. It would not be difficult to create your own pattern pieces for a project like this.  I would note that the heads on the two Pillow Pals that I made, flop at the neck; however, they are cuddly soft, travel pillows which I hope will make two little girlies happy.

Little quilt blocks

I am embroidering tiny bonnet girls, part of a Little Blues sampler from Sentimental Stitches. And then there's these tiny house blocks, my favorite new endeavor from designer Jeanneke's "Building Houses from Scraps."  It took me a couple of tries to get into the rhythm of cutting and sewing these house blocks.  The original pattern top corner pieces, came as single pieces.  For easier piecing, I divided that pattern piece into two sections; much better!  I did try to paper piece this tiny pattern, but opted instead to simply cut and sew like any other pieced block.  More tedious?  Maybe a wee bit, but the pieces are manageable and lots of creative fun in the making.  I've many more little houses to make before it becomes a quilt; however, at last I have found that special thing, a little aside that I can pull out and work on between bigger projects. Mixing and matching the prints and colors and seeing the end result, it's like chicken soup for this quilter's soul.

Miniature quilts...on a roll!

11" x 12-1/2"

10" x 12"

Two more miniature quilts that are currently on my table and soon to be done.  I have captioned each with the approximate finished size.  Can' get enough of making teeny tiny quilts.  The fun is in the making and the end result satisfies this Calico Quilter's soul.  "Hands to work, hearts to God"

A room with a view

Morningtime at the Casita.  I'm looking at my work table and enjoying the view.  Quilting gives me joyful pleasure, enough so that I capture the moment before starting a new project.  Lately, miniature quilts have captured my fancy.  My goal, a wallful of them. Onward!

Doggie quilts all done...off the bucket list!

Henry's Quilt

Sammy's Quilt

Happy's Quilt

My sis has two doggies, Sammy and Happy. Sammy is my l'il doggie Henry's best friend. They have known each other since Henry was just a little pup; Happy came along later. I made Henry a quilt a while back and when he stays overnight at Aunty's from time to time, his quilt goes with him.  All the doggies love Hen's quilt and since they are family, how could I not? Finished at last, these to blanket quilts are on their way to Aunty's.

Henry and Sammy