Roses

Since it's Saturday, and since I like to do flower-related posts on weekends, I'm posting about some  flowers I enjoyed last weekend. 

Disclaimer: I did NOT grow any of the flowers in this post - (Haha!) 

But I DID have fun doing some flower-arranging! 

And I DID take a few pictures in the process!

I mentioned that one of my husband's brothers got married last week. Since we were trying to be available to help with whatever we could on the day before the wedding, I was in the right place at the right time to get to help with flowers. 

Wedding flowers! Dozens upon dozens of fresh, long-stemmed red roses! 

These are the bridesmaids' bouquets (below), all grouped together ...

Two of my husband's sisters had been making corsages and boutonnieres that morning, so in the afternoon, they were making bouquets ... that's what I got to help with. I'm pretty new to the whole flower-arranging thing, so I was glad my sisters-in-law let me help and learn.

The bride's bouquet (both pictures below) was my favorite of the rose creations we worked on, and, if I do say so myself, it turned out lovely!

Beautiful flowers for an even more beautiful wedding! It was really special to be able to help a little with their special day. 

What I've been working on ...

I didn't do much quilting last week. 

Any, actually.

In my bits of sewing time, I was working on dresses for my girls to wear to their uncle's wedding.

My youngest daughter already had the dress I'd made her last fall for an aunt's wedding, so I just had to check and repair the little bow/pearl-scallops along the edge ...

For my middle daughter, I worked on this lacy one - it's a dress we already had, but I stitched the lace into little scallops at the lower edge, for a better length and a cute effect ...

I made a purple dress for my oldest daughter, with fabric that she chose and purchased herself ...

When the dresses were all set, the little, middle, and big girl dresses (along with my non-poufy, non-scalloped dress) were hanging on my door, ready for the wedding, which was on Saturday ... I thought it was funny how the dress lengths were staggered just right - so I took a picture. 

So, my husband's brother got married on Saturday. (More specifically, one of my husband's several brothers got married.) The wedding was lovely, and it was also great to see family and friends that we haven't seen in a while. 

On Friday before their wedding, I got the chance to help with some of the wedding flowers - arranging fresh flowers for bouquets! That was neat, and was a new experience for me. But that's another post for another day!

Brainstorming a Crossword Puzzle Quilt ...

So, I keep thinking I should try making a quilt that looks like a crossword puzzle. That would be fun. There are lots of ideas out there, and it sounds like a fun challenge.

And, remember my post about the Word Play Quilts book? It's got lots of great ideas for making patchwork words. Not complicated. Just a little time-consuming. Lots of fun, though. 

For a few weeks, I've been doing some brainstorming, graph-paper-jotting, and a bit of word-quilt-letter-sewing ... I'm thinking that probably a wallhanging would be a realistic start. So, now, I have to figure out how tall my letters would need to be to make it a reasonable size.

This crossword-puzzle-quilt letter A is about three inches tall:

And this crossword-puzzle-quilt-letter A is about two inches tall:

IF this crossword puzzle quilt wallhanging idea works out, I'll try to post more about it. Probably in bits and pieces ... because IF it works out, it might become a Christmas gift. But, for now, this is all there is to see ... Hoping to share a few sneak peeks along the way ...

I'll be linking this post to 

Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

and

Try it on Tuesday at Jo's Country Junction

So you might want to hop over there

to get some other great project-inspiration!

Happy Tuesday!

Another Carolina Panther

While I was making the Carolina Panthers jeans quilt, my oldest son asked me if I could sew a smaller Panthers logo for him ... He just wanted it stitched onto a fleece blanket.

So, ever since then, I've been meaning to get to it.

This past weekend, I took a bit of time, a bit of Heat 'n Bond, a bit of white fabric, teal fabric, and black velvet ... and sewed up a Panthers logo.

The Panther is just about 10 inches high, zig-zagged along the raw edges, so it was relatively quick.
  

So, the new Carolina Panthers logo on a fleece blanket joins my first-ever jeans quilt on my oldest son's bed ... I'm hoping that the "raggedy" look works well with the plush, fuzzy fleece ...

Linking this post to this week's Little Quilt Monday at Pieceful Life

Pink and Brown Quilt Top

I sewed up this little quilt top a few days ago ...

Actually, I'd made the blocks before that; they were just waiting to be made into a quilt top, so here it is!

The design of the blocks is similar to the popular "Yellow Brick Road" design, although I've never owned the pattern by that name, so I'm not exactly sure how they make it. I just like the look, and I love working with squares and rectangles ...

This quilt top is for sale on eBay for a little while ... hoping somebody will have fun with a baby-sized/lap-sized quilt top - 35 inches by 44 inches.

I'm linking this post to this week's Little Quilt Monday at Pieceful Life ... check there for more little quilt projects that are happening!

Orange Cannas

Last year, my lovely neighbor gave me some orange cannas. I'm loving them! 

One day, when I was messing around in my flowerbed, this neighbor was driving out her driveway. She saw me and asked, "You want some more flowers?"

Of course, I said yes!

The more flowers, the better ... right?

So, one weekend when she was working in her yard, she brought me a bunch of the plants she was dividing. There were several different kinds, among them these orange cannas.

(Reality check: Yes. Those are dandelions in the grass in the background. My little helpers still love to pick dandelions and bring them to me. The more, the better, right? I have a stash of tiny vases for whatever cute flowers my sweeties bring me.)

Some of the cannas bloomed last year. But this year, the flowers are stunning.

So far, I've had orange ones blooming ... but I recall some red ones last year, so I'm thinking I may get some red blooms from some of the other plants ... we shall see.

And, so far, these are very low-maintenance plants. Love that about them.

Seems like each stalk has a new flower almost daily. Amazing!

Oh - and see that tiny orange-red flower in the background on the left of this last picture? That's another one my neighbor gave me. Neither one of us knows what it is. Pictures of that one another day ...

~ * ~

Rejoice in the Lord,
O ye righteous:
for praise is comely
for the upright.

Psalm 33:1

~ * ~

Black and Pink Bargello

Bargello is a fun patchwork technique.

There are lots of great tutorials out there, so I'm not planning to write one ... the ones I like are located here and here.

I've been wanting to try something black and white, with a twist, so the pink prints were just right.

This quilt top is a twin-size ... 66" x 80", and it's for sale on eBay for a little while.

The bandanna-like pink print with cowboy hats, boots, guitars is probably my favorite print in here. Makes me want to do more with bandanna prints ... 

And, as usual, with the leftovers ...

I'm already brainstorming my next project ... 

I'm linking this post to:

This week's Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Kaleidoscopes & Florals

A while ago, I made some stacked Kaleidoscopes ... the 4-patch kind.

Since I hadn't done anything with them, I decided to combine them with some florals I've had, to make a little quilt top.

It's 34" x 48", so it's the right size for a baby quilt, lap quilt, or throw quilt. 

It's for sale on eBay for a limited time.

I've always liked the large floral with the pink and yellow roses ...

Cute little quilt top, so I'm hoping somebody will enjoy it.