Mad As A Hatter!!!

But I'll Tell You A Secret~All The Best People Are!

It only seems fitting that my 100th post is about a finish!  Not my 100th finish, but nonetheless, a finish, and that's something to cheer about...and this is a pretty cheery quilt!  Here it lies rumpled in the long grass between the fruit trees in our mini orchard!

Mad Hats pattern by The Quilted Fish

I have no idea where this, "just for the fun of it" quilt is going to fit into my life.  But it does make me smile.  Its about as polar opposite to my usual color and style selection as one can get, but here I am grinning from ear to ear!

I saw this quilt at one of the vendor booths at the 2011 Quilting In The Garden Show.  I passed on purchasing the kit, but took a picture of it.  When I got home and shared my quilt show photos with my Quilty Buddy she immediately fell in love and said "Oh!  We have to do that!"  I ordered the pattern, she started tracking down the prints at our LQS and we were off and running.  A movie marathon day while cutting fabric together on her huge kitchen island!  We found two great bright whites that we used for the background.  One with perfect nested circles, kind of like little targets and the other a squiggly irregular stripe, which I chose to cut sometimes horizontally, sometimes vertically, depending upon the blocks location.  This meant that each Mad Hat had to know where it was going to live before any sewing took place!

Our quilter, Tracy, beat me to the punch and ordered the cute teapot and cup pantograph, before I had a chance to order it for her and we decided we really wanted to see its cuteness too so we gambled and decided to quilt it in red.  I'll be crossing my fingers and toes and adding vinegar and color catchers to the wash the first time I launder it for sure!

I chose to make self covered buttons for the centers of each of the 9 raggedy little flowers. 

A Very Merry Un-Birthday To You!  And You!

~Nancie Anne





July Still Feels A Little Patriotic...and Hot!

First of all!  Shame On Me!  We went to the hills yesterday.  I had two perfectly good cameras and my phone with me!  I did not take one single solitary picture...not even one at the spot we found where the view was amazing and the softly wafting breeze through the trees was such a welcome respite from the heat we'd been in, that it tempted us not to want to leave that spot.  Not one photo!  Not of the quilt shop where we stopped so I could grab additional yardage from the rapidly decreasing bolt of perfect blue batik.  Not one of the chunky little spotted fawn standing in someone's driveway, the smoke rising from the wildfire several miles to our east, nor of the dozens of kayakers & rafters, or the beautiful clear glassy water running under the old rickety patchwork bridge that we crossed our fingers and drove over.  Not even one of the blob that my husband identified as bear poop!  Shameful I am!

I assembled my last two Country Homecoming house blocks earlier this month and as you can see, I decided to add just a little patriotic salute in the last one!  I couldn't resist marking the date and stage of construction on the calendar with a little touch of the red, white & blue!  I'm also liking my purple and red plaid door quite a bit!  And how about the blue/grey saltbox houses reappearing on another set of chimneys?!

 I gathered the blocks up this morning, stole the thumbtack style magnets off my refrigerator and took the whole caboodle out and "tacked" them onto the siding on the north side of the house where the light is better for photos.  I always imagine the people driving up and down the street are wondering what the crazy lady is doing with quilt blocks on the side of her house as they go by when I do this!  But hey, these strong little magnets hang tight to the side of the house and the light is so much better than what I can achieve inside on the design wall.

So there you have it!  The crazy lady's fantasy neighborhood in no particular order.  This is definitely not the final layout!  I now have two months, (only two months) to assemble these with sashing and then the wonderful vine, leaves and stars border which is what drew me to want to make this quilt.

I'm looking forward to seeing the neighborhoods constructed by my fellow builders "down the road" at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure! (click!)

I'm keepin' cool today, with a ton of stitching that needs to be done by next weekend!  It's creeping up on Quilt Show time!  More on that in a couple of weeks!

~Nancie Anne

Natures Fireworks!!!



Every year, except one year when it was late, this Golden Rain Tree gives us the gift of this golden fireworks display for the Fourth of July, in sprays of brilliant yellow flowers.

  The sprays burst outwardly from it's undulating branches, not to be outdone by some of the holidays most brilliant pyrotechnics! 

 





 The best part is, that we get to enjoy these fireworks all day long, every day, for a couple of weeks, then suddenly the flowers become little bright green lanterns, then brown seed pods that open and drop their hard shiny black pea sized seeds.

As a result we're cultivating more of these wonderful trees to replace the old poplars across the front of our property, whose lifespan is coming to an end.

The best part is, this is the view from where I post to you and from where I sew!

 We Wish You All, A Safe & Happy 4th!

~Nancie Anne & Family