Old Charm

I went for a ride this weekend to take some photos and ended up in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Vancouver (Washington). It is in the historic old part of downtown and the homes of so quaint and full of charm. They are not grand, but so appealing to me.

I also love the old fashioned gardens in that part of town. There were so many mature trees, it was hard to get unobstructed views of many of the homes.

I love the layering of many different varieties of colorful flowers. Unfortunately, I can't identify most of them.

I will just let you wander down these streets with me and enjoy the view.

Can someone tell me what these are called? They are so cute. Are they "Morning Glorys"?

Isn't this amazing?!

Glorious Peonies! Mine have not quite bloomed yet, but I can't wait! I hope you've enjoyed our little trip. Please come again soon. -Derrith

A Memorial Day Tribute

Happy Memorial Day to all of you, wherever you are in this great country. I am truly grateful for the sacrifices made by those individuals who laid down their lives for our freedom and for the families who lost their loved ones to this cause.

I pray that Heavenly Father will continue to bless this Promised Land and we will strive to do our part to keep it safe for generations to come.  - Derrith

Jayna's Studio



Not only are the women in my quilting group talented and fun, they also have some fabulous creative spaces. Last week, Jayna unveiled her brand new quilting studio for us all and it was spectacular! She had just finished the darling Spools of Thread quilt and the colors coordinated perfectly with the room decor. These hung directly over her sewing machine.



Isn't this the funnest thing? With the chicken wire background, she hung this momento of her Mother's Sewing Machine.

Here's a closer look at the quilt. Don't you love it!

This wooden shutter that Jayna painted and distressed, hangs over her work table. We all loved the collection of vintage buttons she used as hooks.



These are over sized scissors that she mounted on a plaque. I love all her ideas.




I couldn't get the entire wall unit in one picture, so you will see it in thirds. Here is the left side. She bought an entertainment center at Ikea and modified it. I love the color. In the top section. she took out the speaker mesh and put in a chalk board. As you can see, she has some of her stash neatly organized inside.



Jayna's handy husband made this middle section under her window to join the two tall sections. The orange and blue touches are throughout the room.



Here is the right side, with some cute accents on top.




It's so lovely to be in a room that has practical applications, but is also a beautiful retreat. This room is SO Jayna!



She found the perfect rug to tie the who room together. In the back ground you can see the work table her husband made for her out of a kitchen cupboard.

This is a relatively small bedroom that she has made over into a perfect quilters retreat and inspirational space.

This is over the closet doors. I'd say it's good advice!

Here is my friend, the beautiful and talented Jayna, herself. I appreciated her letting me share this rome that she has created with you. I hope you enjoyed it and that you will come visit me again soon. I believe my other quilting friends are getting inspired and are sprucing up their studios too. -Derrith

Bloggers Spring Quilt Festival

Welcome to the Festival! A big thank you to our hostess, 
Amy from Amy's Creative Side

                         This is my entry to the Festival this year.

The pattern is called "Square Dance" and it can truly make you feel like you are going round in circles! The dimensions are 65" X 88".

I love bright colors so I really enjoyed coordinating all these fabrics .

I used fabric from my stash that I have collected from several sources. The curved pieces are bonded on each square and then I machine appliqued them.

The quilt was machine quilted by Roberta Peterson of Woodland, WA. As always, she did a magnificent job. I will be giving this quilt to one of my sweet grand daughters.

Here is one final view. Thank you so much for taking a peek. I hope you are enjoying the festival and that you will visit me again soon. To return to the Festival site, click here Bloggers Quilt Festival   -Derrith

 

May Sisters 'n' Stitches



Last night was the monthly meeting for my quilt group and I am sharing our "Show and Tell" with you. Pat showed her finished wool felt appliqued quilt. It was so beautiful!



Here is a closer view of one of the blocks.  Look at the cool stitching she did around each block. So Cute!



Our hostess, Jayna made this darling quilt for a grand daughter, I believe. Love the colors!




Margy made this amazing quilt. It was stunning! Each block was actually done individually on her embroidery machine. She used gold bias strips between the blocks.




I wanted you to see the edge detail. The lace is embroidered!




Lorali and Candy both made their own version of this Christmas Pattern. We all loved them.



They have yet to add the appliques stitching and other embellishments. It will be fun to see the end result!

(Camera Shy) Anita showed us her latest seasonal "candle mat". It was so bright and cheery.



Here are the quilted post cards that were exchanged this month.



Thank you so much for stopping by. I really appreciate your support and I love your comments. Please come again. -Derrith

Vintage Quilt Tops



I was picking up a quilt from my machine quilter, Roberta and she showed me some of her collection of vintage quilt tops that she has acquired from auctions, garage sales and flea markets. Many of the ones she has found are real works of art. Many are all hand pieced.



I loved this fan pattern with authentic, rather than reproduction vintage fabrics. Looking at the border alone, makes me tired. Roberta rescues these labors of love done by anonymous fellow quilters, and quilts them up so that they can be enjoyed by others.



I enlarged this picture so you can see the hand stitched blue lines - those aren't pattern lines. It is really charming.



This is a sweet embroidered baby quilt with darling detail.

I asked Roberta what she would do with the ones she quilts. She has a beautiful large barn when people hold weddings and reunions, etc. and she wants to line the walls with these old quilts.

She is a master machine quilter, so I know they will all be shown off to their best advantage. We only wish the person who made these with their own hands could see the end result.

I threw in this picture of my garden gate to compare with the one below in my last post which was taken 2 weeks earlier. I so wanted my climbing roses to mingle with the wisteria, but it was not to be. I love my roses anyway. I have to go bind my quilt to be done in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival this Friday! I hope you Monday isn't getting you down.  Love, Derrith

Excuses, Excuses

I haven't been posting this week because I am in the middle of a major project...unfortunately it's not a fun sewing project. We desperately needed new carpet upstairs in our home because of doggie issues,etc. So, we made the commitment to be ready for installers this weekend. Wow - we have to clear out my SEWING ROOM, our office and a guest room. It's basically like moving, and everything has to go downstairs, so it's a workout.

The up side is that I am clearing out, simplifying and cleaning up, which feels good and was much needed. It hasn't left any time for sewing, however, so I am posting pictures of my wisteria instead. I love wisteria. It brings back happy childhood memories. I planted it at the base of my garden gate and planted climbing roses on the other side so they would meet and mingle in the middle. Unfortunately, they don't bloom at the same time. My roses have buds, but the wisteria is already fading. Such is life. Hope yours is happy right now. I will have more to share next week. Love, Derrith