Tomato Time

You say toMAYto and I say toMAHto.

Those are lyrics from a song that was popular a little before my time, but for some reason it came to mind when I found this fun tomato and herb fabric from the Coleslaw collection designed by Kaye England for Wilmington Prints.

So far, the only tomatoes I've planted this year are cherry tomatoes, which seem to be thriving (so far, so good) in a large pot on my deck.  I will probably plant some "big" tomatoes next weekend, when I finish planting the rest of the garden.

When I was a kid growing up on the farm we always had a HUGE garden, and we canned quarts of tomatoes to be added to "hot dishes" (Midwestern term for casseroles) during our long winters.  There was a beautiful weeping willow tree at the edge of the garden.  I loved to climb that tree and sit up there and read in the shade, with the wind whispering softly through the willow branches.

Looking at my mom's old recipe cards, I am often amused by how little she wrote down.  She just assumed anyone would know the other details.  Perhaps that was another thing that drew me to this fabric when I spotted it in one of my favorite local quilt shops, The Calico House.   I love the recipe card written in red that says "HERE'S HOW" at the top.

Since it is Shameless Commerce Tuesday, I thought I'd share these oven mitts, one of the new listings from my Etsy shop, Pasque Flower Creations.

How does your garden grow?  Do you grow enough to can or freeze, or just to enjoy "in season"?

We are heading out on the first leg of the trip to Colorado this afternoon.  Erin's graduation is Thursday morning, and we plan to head back on Friday.  So I will be unplugged for a few days, enjoying some family time. But I will also be praying for the people of Moore, Oklahoma, as they try to piece their lives back together after the tragic tornado hit their community yesterday.  If you'd like to offer your support, here is a link. So sad.

TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower
http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com

Erin's Quilt - WIP

Two years ago, our eldest granddaughter, Erin, asked, "Grandma, will you make me a graduation quilt?"  Now who could refuse a request like that!  

Even though I had two years' lead time, I was anxious to get started, so I looked at patterns and fabrics, and came up with a pattern by 3 Sisters for Moda that I thought would work.   (I know--a true artist would design an original pattern.  But I consider myself more of a craftsperson than a designer.  I'll experiment with original designs with scraps - or for quilt guild challenges.  But when I'm purchasing this much fabric for a special occasion quilt, I'd rather go with a sure thing.  So please don't judge.)

I loved the mix of applique, and the colorful pieced border.

I consulted with her mom, and she approved, so off I went to purchase fabric.  (My blogging friend, Duni, would approve of my choices, I'm sure!)  There were pretty small-scale floral prints in shades of pink, blue and green, an assortment of cream-colored background fabrics, and a soft blue tone-on-tone floral for the backing.  The florals were from the Aviary collection by 3 Sisters for Moda -- high quality 100% cottons.

And all those pretty fabrics sat in a box for awhile -- for QUITE awhile -- I had two years, right???

Several months later, I cut all the strips for stems and the pieced border.  Using our AccuQuilt GO! Baby, I cut the 358 freezer paper templates for the leaves, then ironed each template onto fabric.  I also created a template plastic guide for placing the leaves around each stem.

And then came a long, hot summer and a busy craft fair season, followed by a holiday Etsy rush, and then another tax season.  All that time passed in a BLUR-r-r-r-r!

So after tax season, I began some serious hand stitching -- needle turn applique. I completed the stems in a weekend, but I grossly underestimated how long it would take to stitch all 358 leaves!  I'm still not done, with graduation only three days away (and I have a custom Etsy order, a tight deadline free lance research project and a L-O-N-G drive to Colorado to complete in the meantime).  

SO-- I will give her a sneak preview -- along with my apology for being late - - and a card with some cash.   And Erin will have her finished quilt when she moves to Lincoln next Fall to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  (One less thing to move from CO to NE.)

I quilt my big quilts by credit card.  I haven't attempted to quilt anything larger than a baby quilt or lap throw on my home machine. I am fortunate to have a talented quilt guild friend, Kris Vierra, who is an award-winning machine quilter.  She's been quilting for me since before she became famous, and she lives only a few blocks from me.  Her quilting can turn an ordinary quilt into something fabulous.  She has a long waiting list, but it will be well worth the wait!  I'll show you all the finished quilt sometime this Fall.

THEN, I'll need to begin working on a graduation quilt for Erin's brother, Daniel!  I have the pattern (much simpler -- no leaves or hand applique!), but I'll need to search for "guy fabrics" -- AFTER Erin's quilt is done!  I'll have less than a year to complete that one.

TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower
http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com

Treasury Thanks

It was a great week for Treasuries, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all the curators who featured items from my Etsy shop, Pasque Flower Creations, during the past week.

THANK YOU!

Zoubizou  from The Netherlands featured my blue large-sized oven mitts in her treasury, Lemon Cake . . ..

I just love this adorable newborn baby hat from Zoubizou's shop:

 Aid for Abby, a shop which features artwork by an autistic child artist, featured my yellow and white chevron oven mitts in the treasury, Spring Trend - Yellow and White.  This abstract art by Abby is a sample of some of the amazing artwork available at Aid for Abby:

Alice Garrett of Alicecarolynsupply featured my aqua chevron oven mitt in her beautiful treasury, Colour Inspiration: Aqua.  Alice's shop has a wonderful assortment of hard to find Liberty of London cotton lawn fabrics, like this beautiful Tresco print, inspired by the Tresco Abbey gardens:

Natashalh of StalkingTheWildSnark, a BBA teammate, also featured my aqua chevron oven mitts in her treasury, It's Geometric!  This wonderful nautical necklace from Natasha's shop exemplifies another current trend:

Marijn from Woolly Mary (Netherlands) featured my poppies on teal oven mitts in her bright and cheery treasury, Wearable Poppies.   These wonderfully unique and whimsical crochet birds are one of my favorite finds in Marijn's shop:

Cara Harkness of BohoBeachJewelry featured my orange chevron oven mitt in her treasury, Orange and White Delight.  This orange agate bracelet is one of the wonderful Boho jewelry items from Cara's shop:

Nesrin from ArtofAccessory featured my green chevron oven mitt in her treasury, Green White.  The pretty green crochet halter top is something I would have loved in my younger days -- it covers stretch marks, but is still cool and sexy on a hot summer day:  

Thanos from GreekCosmos featured my yellow floral baby bib in the treasury Kid's Stuff -- In Grey - Yellow. This ancient Greek reproduction disc has such unique markings.  What do they mean?  It's Greek to me!  But it would be a beautiful accent piece.

More than half the curators featured this week are sellers from abroad.  Etsy truly is an international handmade marketplace!   It's exciting to be a part of that community.

TTFN

LeAnn aka pasqueflower

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower

http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower

http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com

BBA May Challenge - Rick Rack Rose

The May Challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans Team is from Sharla of  Beaded Tail.

The challenge was to make something with a flower theme -- May flowers.

I will be visiting two of my grandchildren in New Hampshire in August. While I am there, we will celebrate Madeline’s 9^th birthday.  My three East Coast “big kids” will all be there – a mini-reunion.

Madeline’s favorite color is pink, so I decided to make her a pink rick rack rose hair clip for her curly blonde hair.

  

I found this rick rack flower tutorial on the Oh For Sweetness Sake blog. Thanks to Jesselle’s great step-by-step instructions, I was able to create a cute little hair accessory.  I used Roxanne's Glue-Baste-It instead of a hot glue gun.    I had some difficulty turning back the “petals,” possibly due to having fat old fingers – but if there was polyester in the rick rack, that would also make it more difficult to shape the flower.  On my next attempt, I may look for cotton rick rack, and use tweezers to help the rose bloom.

TTFN

LeAnn aka pasqueflower

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower

http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower

http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com

Wordless Wednesday - Blooms

Now You're Cookin'!

It's Shameless Commerce Tuesday, and today I'm featuring some new listings from my Etsy shop, Pasque Flower Creations, also available at Locabal (Local + Global).

Oven mitts continue to be my best sellers, and I've recently added a few new ones to the mix.

This one reminds me of Lifesavers candies.

Pink and gray are a winning color combination, I think.

And I couldn't resist Riley Blake's new purple chevrons and dots fabrics.

I have more new mitts cut and ready to sew --- but I'm still working on Erin's graduation quilt.
Juggle. Juggle. Juggle.

TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower
http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com

Treasury Thanks - Mother's Day 2013

On this Mother's Day I am grateful for my children and grandchildren, and for a sunny day.

I am also grateful for the curators who featured items from my Etsy shop, Pasque Flower Creations, in treasuries over the past week.  A huge THANK YOU to all!

Holly from TheRottenRooster featured my pool party bunting in her fun and colorful treasury, Pool Party!
While it's WAY too chilly for a pool party in Nebraska, we know that warmer days are coming.  This pretty paper bead bracelet from Holly's shop would be a lovely Spring or Summer accessory.

VivaTheLove featured my rainbow chevron oven mitts in her treasury, Mother's Day Gift Ideas.  If I had a Mother's Day Etsy Gift Card to spend, I might be looking at this beautiful blue agate bracelet.

Patty Harrington of FernHollowFInds, a Baby Boomers teammate, featured my tangerine oranges on green oven mitts in her treasury, I Love You MOM!  With all of my kids in different time zones, I'll be doing some traveling to stay in touch.  This beautiful drawstring jewelry pouch would be great for travel - or every day.

Margaret of SplendidLittleStars, a BBA teammate, featured my hearts baby bib in her treasury, True Love.  This cute tie dyed heart t-shirt would delight my youngest granddaughter, I'm sure.

Sharla of BeadedTail, another BBA teammate, featured my magenta schlep bag in her treasury, For Moms of Kids With and Without Fur. My fur baby is the only "kid" who will be with me this Mother's Day.
This Be Curious cat journal reminds me of my curious sewing buddy, Tux.

That's all for now.  I'll be heading to the Old Cheney Farmer's Market after church today, tagging up with my kids by phone or text, working on Erin's graduation quilt  ---- and missing my mom.

TTFN
LeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower
http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com