Visiting My Talented Friend, Pat

I am blessed to have many creative, talented friends who inspire me constantly. Today, I want you to meet one of them. Pat is an old friend and a member of my quilt group. I spent an afternoon with her recently and I wanted to share with you some of the things she has created, starting with her quilts. Many of you will recognize "A Tisket A Tasket". I love the colors she used and it is meticulously done.

Here is a small sampling of her beautiful quilts. I wish you could see more clearly the amazing machine quilting on her quilts. It is done by our friend, Darlene - she is a master!

Pat's applique is flawless. She also enjoys the warmer tones for her fabrics.

As soon as I say that, here is an exception. I love the colors on this one too.

The blue tones didn't photograph too well, nor the intricate quilting, but, trust me, it's a beauty!

Isn't this gorgeous! You can see the quilting a little better on this one as well. It's such a fun pattern I think.

I love this masterpiece she completed recently. It is very large and the applique is beautiful.

Here is Pat's immaculate work space. It is a med sized room, but everything is in it's place.

Her cheery wall hanging hangs in her sewing room.

This is another wall in her studio. It features some of her paintings. She is a very accomplished artist and an amazing gardener, among other things. In my next post, I will show you more! Please come back soon. I'm so glad you visited!  -Derrith

Where I Create...





Welcome to the Where Bloggers Create party, hosted by Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage. Thank you Karen!
I am starting my studio tour with some of my ribbon collection, in a nod to the name of my blog. I love collecting ribbon and wrapping paper and obviously, gift wrapping. I do, however consider myself primarily a Quilter.



So here we go touring around my sewing/craft studio. This is a furniture piece I had made custom to fit over my bins of fabric. It's quite high and since I am tall, it's a nice work surface for me.



A couple months ago, we re-carpeted all our upstairs rooms, including my sewing room. This forced me to remove everything from the room, so when I put things back I was able to throw away or give away things I didn't need. It was really the best thing that could have happened. Now, my room is clean and clear and organized better than ever before. When I did my big re-do , I finally got all my fabric tidy and organized. Now I can actually see all the pieces I have at a glance and it's easy to keep it that way.

A lot of my quilting buddies have their fabric folded on shelves, but I prefer to have mine in drawers.

Moving around the room now, I have another smaller work space and more storage. This room used to be our master bedroom before we remodeled, and the shelf you see used to be above our bed.  Now I use it for "bits and  bobs"(forgive me: I watch way too many British shows) that make me happy.

Here's a closer look at a few of them. The large Fairie was a special souvenir I found in "The Fairie Shop" in Bath, England several years ago. The Bavarian candle holder is also some thing I love. I also love all things Scandinavian, Tyrolean and French. I think I was meant to be European :-)

This table comes in handy for smaller projects, but I admit I still go to the dining room table for cutting out quilts.

My little corner where I sew, sew, sew. I have a small ironing board that fits over a tray table hidden behind the sewing machine. It is very handy to have there and my dog Molly loves to curl up there while sew.

Still moving clockwise around the room, this is a cute little table I found at a thrift shop. I keep bias tape and zippers and little notions in the drawers.

This is a large and heavy bookcase unit that I have had for years. I mention the heaviness, because my husband has forbidden me to ever move it again!  I wouldn't want to - it holds lots and lots of stuff!

This is the wall opposite my sewing machine. You can see my acrylic paint holder on the dresser. The door you see leads to our old master bathroom. That is where I keep my large ironing board and the shower holds my pillow forms and fiberfill - seems logical to me!

This is Milicent. She has apparently borrowed one of my necklaces. Her sister Marjorie is in a closet. On the wall you can see the very simple project I did to dress up a $10.00 white clock (a frame from Goodwill, painted white and a piece of scrapbook paper).

We all know that glitter improves just about anything. A tour of my studio wouldn't be complete without a glimpse of my collection.

This is just a small sampling.

This was a closet and the center built-in was already there. Obviously I have added as many plastic bins as I could fit in. This is the least attractive part of the room, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I have included it.

One last shot of a couple of my fairies and my Ice Skating ornament collection. I do hope you've enjoyed the tour. I really appreciate you stopping by and hope you will visit again soon. -Derrith

Sarah's Garden Cottage Revisited...

Over a year ago, I posted about my friend Sarah's beautiful Garden Cottage. It has been my most popular post ever. (with the exception of the Where-Bloggers-Create party). I can understand the appeal. Doesn't it look like the most inviting, peaceful, glorious place!

I thought I would give you a couple more views of the cottage and the surrounding garden. First, however, I must tell you about Sarah. She is grandmother who is passionate about gardening, but has so many other talents, it would wear most people out just thinking about them. She is a multi media artist and heirloom seamstress, among many other things. She was the general contractor on her own home, doing much of the work herself, calling it the "ultimate crafts project".

She built the cottage herself (with a little help from her husband) using left over lumber, the odd architectural detail piece, old doors and windows. It is rustic and she loves it that way.

It is her little retreat in her garden. She loves to sleep there on summer nights.

I thought you'd enjoy these interior views.

Now, take a stroll around her garden...

I hope you enjoyed this little escape. Please stop by again. -Derrith

Waving the Flag

Happy Independence Day, everyone! A friend of mine who was moving gave me a bundle of old quilt pattern books, many of which were nautical themed. This design caught my I so I made it up over the last couple days. It went together fast since I fused and blanket stitched it.

I had also picked up an old canvas flag at a Vintage Shop a few months ago and finally made a couple pillows from it.

This is my 4th of July quilt I hang up in my living room for most of June and July.

Decking out the house in red, white and blue!

I'm enjoying my hydreanges while they last. Unfortunately, the sun is burning their little petals as I write.

I hope you have a happy and safe 4th with the ones you love. Please come again anytime. You are so welcome. -Derrith