Peace Doves

I am making three shopping bags to donate to an auction at my church. Last year I made three with peace symbols, so continuing the theme this year I am going with doves.





I used a template from Bella Dia's web site here.


I got to wondering how the dove became a symbol of peace and found this quote:

after world war II pablo picasso, was responsible for
the decisive use of the dove of peace : his lithograph
designed for the international peace congress in paris,
1949, features the white ancestor of a new family of
doves. since then, graphic artists have produced an
endless series of doves of peace in different shapes.

Here is his poster...

The trees with branches

My winter sunrise wall hanging is coming along. The trees now have branches. A lot of free motion sewing here. I like the tree on the right better than the ones on the left. I did those first and I think they have a few too many branches. I did get a little hill distortion between the first two of the trees. But, I figure this gives it dimension.

Next up, I want to quilt the snow section. I have a nice metallic white thread, but it kept breaking in the machine. I am going to try an embroidery needle before going any further.


Here is another picture I want to share. We have a 20 year old cat, she has kidney disease but is hanging in there. She is very thin, so when she curls up to sleep, she really wraps herself tightly to keep warm. Here is how she looked this afternoon. Doesn't she look kinda like a Q or a question mark?

super quick gift

Our two neighbor boys, Parker and Jamison, both had their adenoids removed this week. I thought a nice gift for them would be soft flannel pillow cases. Trucks for Parker and Pirate theme for Jamison. Both boys were pleased with gift, I hope cases gave some comfort as they recovered.

One yard of flannel, wash and dry to shrink and soften it up,
cut the edges to make it straight,
fold right sides together, one seam along the top, one along the side,
turn up the hem 1/2 inch on the edge and iron,
then turn up a 4 inch hem, sew that and you are done.

Contribution to the Bushfire Quilting project

I made these two wonky star blocks to contribute to the Bushfire Quilting project. This is the flickr group of other contributed blocks and also has all the information needed if you want to contribute.

Here is the link to the tutorial on making these stars, called Wonky or Maverick. They are very improvisational and fun to make.

The woman who started this idea has had an overwhelming response and is now a quilting organizer, wonderful. I love the idea of the scores of homeless people receiving a hand made quilt to help them cope with getting their lives back together.

Red on Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! It seems like red is the color of the day, so here are some illustrations from my life. Red cards ready and waiting.




My valentines gift from dear hubby. A red polka dot teapot, perfect!




My gift to him, a home made cherry pie.




More red on the dining room table. Flowers, candle, Japanese doll and plum candy - decorations from our Chinese New Year celebration last weekend.

Whatever you may be celebrating today, I hope it includes the passion and sweetness associated with red.

Trees added

I have added the trees to my winter sunrise composition. They are fused on. I plan to add sewing lines to do the thinner branches.

I also have some shimmery white thread to add to the snow area. I think I will do that by hand.

We have actually had some milder temperatures here the past few days. Into the 40's and 50's. Makes one think of the little green buds that will be coming to these dark trees.

Winter sunrise

I am working on trying to capture winter sunrise in a small fabric wall quilt. Here is a photo that I am using for inspiration. This is a scene that I pass on my way to work in the morning, as I drive east.


Here is my attempt, so far, to capture the sunrise.

I don't have the photography equipment to do the colors justice here, they look much more muted in this photo. There is a lot of gray here in the winter, appropriate I suppose.

Next I have to decide how to add the trees. A minister at my congregation referred to the trees against the winter sky as "brown lace". I like that comparison. I don't plan to use lace literally but do want to capture the wispy pattern of the sleeping winter trees.

A wristlet for Mary

I tidied up the studio yesterday and found some quilting pins and a bobbin that I need to return to my friend Mary. I reflected that I couldn't just give them back to her in a plastic or paper bag. So..., of course, I made her a wristlet.

I know that Mary likes Fall colors. So I rummaged through my stash to find a nice combo. I added a little row of pieced fabric to the bottom of the purse. As I pull these little pieces of fabric together I reflect on their history. The fabric in the body of the bag is fabric that I used to accent a vest I made, in a class that Mary and I took together.

The bits in the pieced row are:
1. red oriental - from a jacket I made with all oriental fabrics
2. pink/red/orange from a piece of fabric that Nathan gave me
3. red with gold dots - from my friend Besty, see the sunshine pillow.
4. yellow - from a little fabric bundle from the island of St. John's where they recycle worn bed sheets by dying them in beautiful batiks- a gift from my friend Margaret.
5. a piece of batik that I purchased from the local quilt shop and have used in more than one project. Here is one example.

I again added 3 beads to the zipper pull, this makes opening and closing easier and looks pretty cute. I think the beads on the zipper pull will now be a standard addition.

So here's to a lot of enjoyment from a little creation. The pleasure of giving it to Mary will be the icing on the cake.