Color and inspirations

If you've visited my Etsy Store you know I make miniature quilt block jewelry from my hand dyed fabrics. These are foundation pieced quilt blocks enclosed between two pieced of glass and then sealed with lead free solder.I was recently asked to choose my favorite colorways in my jewelry collection. Here is what I decided on. They are all reminders of childhood memories. This brooch reminds me of a Maxfield Parrish sky in one of his paintings. My mother used to read us stories from "Poems of Childhood" by Eugene Fields and Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. The illustrations in that book were so dreamlike.

This pin reminds me of the fields of sunflowers near our favorite lake in Minnesota. This is a favorite memory for myself as well as my sister.

My mother had an aunt that lived in New Mexico. Over the years we have all treasured the craftsmanship of lovely pieces of turquoise jewelry that came from my mothers visits to the area. This is the first pattern I designed for a pair of earrings. I love the flying geese pattern. The colors in this jewelry came from my first attempt at dying a color gradation. When I saw the result I was hooked!

This last piece was inspired by the only piece of clothing I still own from my childhood. It is a printed cotton sundress from Sears with a picture of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet printed on it. I'll have to dig it out to photograph it some day. It's so adorable. I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was full of fun and family times.

The Road to a Friend's House

I stopped off at the Homestead Cabin Retreat on Friday to drop off an order to one of Patsy's guests, Amy, who I met at the retreat last December. It turned out the rest of Patsy's guests were women I had met at an earlier retreat from the Life's a Stitch Quilt Shoppe. It was great to see everyone again. I had been lamenting that I wouldn't be able to attend the next meeting of the Piecemaker's Quilt Guild which meets at the retreat monthly. The entire drive to Patsy's place is blazing with wildflowers in July. I was very glad to have an excuse to stop in. Thanks Amy! Patsy has created a wonderful setting to come relax and create. Oh, and the food! I can't wait for my next stay at her Homestead. This photo was taken enroute to the retreat. It features a mix of Black Eyed Susans and Daisies.

I also had a stop at my friend Susan's house. This is the first time I have been to her house in the summer time. What a treat. She has flower gardens everywhere, each garden is it's own "room". Her husband purchased a train caboose a few years ago. As far as I knew it was filled with junk. Much to my surprise She and her husband had cleaned things up and made it into a wonderful guest cabin for their kids. TOO COOL! I wish I had taken pictures. She had couple old iron beds with lovely quilts on them and all the furnishings were early antiques. Susan had been hand dyeing silk scarves and they were all strung out to dry in the windows. Susan has an amazing spirit and is always wonderful to be around.

I took my time driving home and stopped to take pictures along the way. I found a teepee tucked away in a little island of mowed grass.

The sun was obscured by clouds on and off all evening. I love seeing the rays of light from filtered sunlight.

The shot below was taken on the road to my house. The yellow flowers are a small wild relative of the sunflower. They grow on many roadsides throughout the Midwestern US.

Everyday Pleasures #11

A few days ago I posted about all of the bunnies in my yard.


One of the comments was from Hey Harriet, who suggested that I post some bunny photos from my yard for one of my Friday "Everyday Pleasures" posts.


Now, I have tried many times to get good pictures of my furry friends, but am never happy with the results. My photos don't do them justice, plus I never want to get too close to them, as I always wish for the bunnies to feel safe and never threatened at my home. When it comes to bunnies, "mi casa es su casa".


But I did make an effort to get a bit closer then usual with the camera, and I must say, my little friends were awfully good sports!


(We call this one "Stretch" as his legs are longer then the other bunnies!)

And before I hop off, here is today's "BooDilly's Daily Dilly" featured item: A 200 Year Advertising Pocket Calendar!





Because this is the "BooDilly's Daily Dilly" featured item, if you decide to purchase this Vintage Pocket Calendar from my BooDilly's Shop from July 18th to July 20th, 2008, I will refund you via PayPal, 10% of your purchase price for this item, plus 10% of your shipping price for this item! All you have to do, is after your purchase, leave a message either in the comment section here or through Etsy, to let me know you saw it here! This offer is only good for the days listed, and only as long as the item is available! Check back on Monday for the next featured Dilly! Have a great weekend everyone!