Family, friends and fibers.....



Yesterday, Mom and I went to our friend, Sally's home for a visit which included good food (apple cake, thanks, Sally!) good conversation ( we have known each other since we were in junior high school) and stitching! Mom worked on the quilt top she is making by blanket stitch appliqueing some flower garden blocks which were made by HER mother to a print background (idea from Kaffe Fassett's PASSIONATE PATCHWORK book).
We love how they play "hide and seek" on the busy background!


Sally picked up her knitting.......

a colorful cotton yarn which was quickly becoming a new dishcloth! Sally's hands were so fast they left a only a blur! LOL!

While there, I finished the last of my "Mitered Crosses" knitted blocks....and am now considering how I should put them together....it seems to be rather small....I still have almost two skeins of the hand-dyed lavendar background yarn....so maybe I could "sash" them as I would quilt blocks....

[Find the "Mitered Crosses" pattern on Mason Dixon knitting....pattern is a PDF which is raising funds for victims of the Tsunami in Japan...the block feature hand-dyed NORO silk garden yarn, a joy to work with!]

Fall color??

I took up my camera hoping to capture some of it ( the colors of autumn!) but first wanted a more current seasonal photo of myself. This was as good as it got. [Just try photographing yourself in a mirror and you will see....especially if the camera (or the one taking the photo) is a little "off" !LOL!]

I really like the "JUST BREATHE" quilt in earthy colors which is behind me! It is one of my favorites! I have made it at least 2 times!

One reason for taking this photo....I have been trying to get another "tossed collage" of my digital photos to use as a header on this blog. I can make the collage on Picassa, but can find no way to save and publish it....(it was SO easy the last time it did it!...ever since we changed to this newer computer, I have struggled....BTW I read many more blog posts than I can now comment on....sometimes, the comments just don't "take"!)

I know that I need to be better with the camera and the computer!

Next, I took the camera outside to find color. We are about at "peek" for our fall color this week. I took a photo of our yellow maple beginning to turn....and then the battery was dead in the camera....!!!

So, that is enough photographic frustration for today I'll just get out my paints and apply all the colors I want!.....meanwhile and full of color.....



You can read more about this rural knitter and her designs here . The colors in yarns and fabrics are a little easier to capture today than the colors of autumn!

And thinking of color, I can't overlook my purple Mary Janes with the red straps and indigo knitted socks......yes, I did manage to get these in my size! Some of us never grow up!

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Pajama's and a quilt are ready to send to a grandson for his 4th birthday!

The flannel pj's are a "smiling monkey" print on yellow. Yellow is a great color for B3 and it seems that monkey's are really "in" right now....and appropriate for a cute someone who climbs and clowns a lot!

The quilt, for the "big boy" bed is a simple, colorful bright "4-patch" pieced by my mom, this little guy's great grandmother,....we send it his way with lots of love!

Cooler weather and the season of zucchini make it time for baking!

The photo above is of the recipe found here! I'm looking forward to trying this one as it makes one loaf and will be just what we need here, for the 3 of us....it is called a breakfast bread...yummm!

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Supper tonight is Portuguese white bean and kale soup....another cool weather favorite!

When I make soup, I read several recipes and then improvise or play....using what I have on hand. White beans, kale, sausage, chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, onion, fresh thyme, canned chopped tomatoes....and I may serve it with some wonderful bread, or even tortilla chips, as I have a real affinity toward them!

Sketched and scanned.....



Painting is such fun....but so is quilting, and knitting and cooking....oh well!

A chilly October morning.....I pull out my paints.

This is the "Last Bouquet" as the frost will change things tonight!

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Painting takes my mind off of these colorful (two-toned red) shoes.....which are perfect for an artist and even have my name on them! LOL!

Right now, my size is unavailable....we will see.....

http://www.onlineshoes.com/womens-el-naturalista-n284-otono-lila-leather-p_id219887

This caught my eye since I have alwas loved "paper dolls"....



"The world is round," said Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "so that friendship may encircle it."

Enjoying a wonderful week here in Minnesota with our new grandson, !

The October weather is fabulous and so is this sweetie!

My son and DIL and baby 
 took me out for coffee at a local garden center/decorating center/coffee shop......fun!
Here is the little guy....almost 6 weeks old!

After a day or so of slow life...resting with the sinus or cold thing....I was back to "busy"!

These sweaters were finished and sent to the grandchildren, pink for the twin girls and orange for their older brother!

I am still enjoying working on my "Mitered Crosses" knitted blanket. [ I did discover that as often happens with my distractable mind, I made more work for myself by not completely reading how to knit the colorful mitered center crosses....it could have been done with far fewer loose ends if I had followed her directions!LOL!] Also, I am practicing with my non-dominate hand and knitting the lavendar background in the "picking" rather than "throwing" method of knitting....so there is an even greater irregularity here, the true "handmade" look!

These two art quilts have just been given labels, "Morning Mist--Springtime in the Ozarks", and "Wild Roses". Both have been donated to an art auction for the local women's shelter.

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Now I fly to meet my new grandson, a month old....5 weeks! I can hardly wait and will be back with photos from Minnesota!