Thoughts of a Grasshopper

This is block 5 of the Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown quilt.  I like having a block a month to work on.  I just signed up for another block a month that is a 10-month program for a quilt called "Mill Girls".  I'm really looking forward to working on it and reading the writings of some girls who worked there and what life was for them.

OWH is a wonderful organization that sends cards to our military that are deployed so they can write and stay connected with their family.  This group is near and dear to my heart due to our experiences in the military and knowing how much it means to have that mail on both ends.  When my husband was deployed, our kids looked forward to the times they could share a little of what was going on in their lives and know their dad was okay.  I'm grateful for those that serve and have served our great country. I made this card using sketch challenge 160 from OWH. Stamps:  Service & Sacrifice, The Brave & the Free CS:  Night of Navy, Real Red, WW Ink:  Stazon Jet Black, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Night of Navy Misc.:  Chevron EF, dimensionals, watercolor brush, star punch *I forgot to put the star on to the left of the sentiment.  I will have to take a picture later.  My husband has patiently waited for me...

I saw this card on Pinterest and LOVED it.  I ended up making it to mail off for Mother's Day.  I CASEd it from Debra Currier .  The Bright Blossoms stamp set really makes some cute, happy looking cards. Stamps:  Bright Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight CS:  WW, Summer Smooches DP, Lucky Limeade Misc.:  Bright Buttons, rhinestone, scallop punch, designer frame EF

I mentioned back in January that I have started a "Saturday Sampler" quilt with a local quilt shop.  The pattern is called Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown .  I thought I would share what I've completed so far.  The quilt will have 12 sampler blocks that were named to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, VA and 24 log cabin blocks.  New Colony  Roanoke Island  Discovery  Virginia Settlement For the log cabins, I started off with 4 pieces sewn together to start the block and had the remaining strips laid out so I could grab them easily and keep on sewing.  I'd never sewn a log cabin block before and a friend told me it is better to do them at once because you have to think about what you are doing.  With this method, I was able to leave them and come back to it a week later and pick up where I left off. Log Cabin I have to admit I was happy when I finished that 24th log cabin block.  I...

I needed cards for thank you notes and I sent them off to arrive just before Valentine's Day, so I decided to use the Greeting Card kids set.  What you can't see from this picture is the letterpress template I used on the vanilla cardstock, stamped with VersaMark.  I saw a similar card on Pinterest and went with the design and colors.  The card I saw was a little more snazzy but I needed it to be flat enough to mail and the flowers on the other card were too 3D for the mail unless a bubble envelope was used. Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids and Hand-Penned Holidays CS:  Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, VV Ink:  VersaMark, Stazon Black Misc.:  Flower Punch, 2-1/2" circle punch, Large Delicate Doilies sizzlet, dimensionals, Fancy Fan Letterpress, Basic Pearl, mini Glue Dots

Christmas, traditions, and a long list of "want to do" kept me pretty busy.  I'm embarrassed to say that I still need to get 'thank you' cards written and mailed off.  Stamped might even be good but I do have my trusty box of ready-made cards that never seem quite right for the person I need a card for. In December I tried to participate in 2 photo challenges for the month.  I ended up very behind and was still playing catch-up well into January.  There were some duplicates on both lists and I found I got pictures of the details but didn't seem to get as many of the people and I'm usually better at that.  Somehow, I need to find that happy medium of both.  I like the details but the people/family are more important to me. The month I started with a quilting group that meets once a month.  We are making the "Ramblin Rose Meets Jamestown" quilt this year.  I'm making the squares as they are but I'm modifying the log cabin part of the...

I wish I took some pictures as I went along but I wanted to share with you something that I made a couple of weeks ago for a decoration outside this year.  This was a two-hour project. In October, I bought to rolls of mesh ribbon.  One was white and the other red.  I can't visualize what I intended but I think I planned to use it above the windows . . . somewhere.  Perhaps on a wreath but I doubt that due to the size of my wreaths.  Due to the colors of the mesh, it seemed logical to make a candy cane.  I went to the store and bought some green ribbon for a bow, which I think needs to be a little lower on the candy cane but it will do for this year. We had left over chicken wire from a science fair project last year.  I rolled it to make a cylinder shape, securing it with zip ties and then shaped it for a candy cane.  The hook of the cane wouldn't stay bent so I used some wire (silver floral wire) to connect the base of the hook to the ...