Posted in Landscape, Paint Party, Small Town Life, Wineries, tagged Paint & Sip, Reitano, Vineyard, Wine on August 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
We had our first Paint & Sip at the beautiful Reitano Vineyard last night and it was a huge success! Everyone did an amazing job painting a scene of the vineyard while sipping a little wine, enjoying some terrific snacks and having a great time with friends. If you missed it, you missed a great event. But don’t worry….we will be doing another one on Thursday, September 12th. So plan to come for the next one. You’ll be glad you did. Watch for the registration information coming soon.
Posted in Serendipity, Small Town Life, The Studio/Classes, tagged Anniversary, Note on August 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I got the most beautiful Studio Anniversary surprise yesterday from my student and friend, Dianne. She put into words exactly what I had hoped The Studio would become – a place for people to gather and create and feel as if they are a part of the Front Royal community. Thank you Dianne for putting it in works…and “Keep up the Good Work”!
Posted in Quilting, Sewing, Small Town Life, tagged checkers, picnic quilt on May 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Just got my “Picnic Quilt” back from the longarmer. I love the design of this quilt. It’s simple but it really could be used to play checkers! The simple blocke designs around the edge just enhance the checks. Love it! Now to go on a picnic.
Posted in Animals, applique, fundraiser, Quilting, Serendipity, Small Town Life, tagged applique, quilt on April 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A few weeks ago I made this little banner that I donated to our local Humane Society for their Barks & Bags Fundraiser event. I hope it auctioned off and raised some $$$ to help those babies at the shelter.
Posted in applique, Collage, Crochet, Drawing, Embroidery, Felting, Furniture, Holidays, Knitting, Paper Art, Pet Portaits, Portraits, Quilting, Recipes, Sculpture, Serendipity, Sewing, Small Town Life, Still Life, The Studio/Classes, Weaving, tagged gifts, handmade on December 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
It ‘s Christmas time. The family is all gathered together. The gifts are beginning to be passed around. And you see it…there it is…. right there… all wrapped up…a gift from Grandma or Papa or Aunt Noreen or Cousin Virgil. You know exactly what it is before you open it. It’s a handmade something ________ (you insert the item here….a knitted hat, a crocheted scarf, a painting, a bowl cozy, a quilt, a vest, a pottery mug, etc.) They always “make” you something for Christmas. Well, this year when you open that handmade gift hope you will think of this.
You should consider yourself extremely special and loved….and here is why.
First, making the gift requires much consideration and thought to choose just the right project and design for you. The giver wants it to be something special that is specific just for you. Often this takes hours of research and thought to find the right design and colors. A handmade gift is NOT an afterthought.
Next, the materials must be assembled. Sometimes they are easily found but other projects like quilts require that the designs are drawn, yardage is figured and fabric is ordered and purchased. Again, this can take many hours and quite a bit of expense. Based on the size of the quilt a conservative estimate of the supplies alone is at least $125.
Then the actual project begins to be made. Depending on what the object is this could take a few hours to several weeks. What you need to know and remember is that the giver is willing to give up this much of their life for you….to make something special for you! And while they are making it they are often thinking of you and the fun times you have had together. Again, in the case of a quilt a conservative estimate for an small quilt is 25-30 hours.
So when you consider the time plus the cost of supplies that goes into a handmade gift you begin to see the real value. It would be so much easier for the giver to go online to Amazon or Walmart and order a cheaply made object that would cost less in money and time. But because they obviously love and care for you they gave you their time and made you something that is one of a kind…just like you!
So this holiday season when you receive a special handmade gift from your creative family and friends whether it’s a quilted banner, knitted mittens or crocheted sweater or scarf or a painting, a table runner, a wooden bowl, a pottery mug, etc. be grateful to the person who cares enough for you to give you hours of their time and thought to make something special just for you! Be grateful for something handmade!
Merry “Handmade” Christmas!
Posted in Quilting, Serendipity, Small Town Life, tagged Road Trip on November 19, 2023| 2 Comments »
Remember our big road trip back in March and the quilt I designed to make a memory of it? Well here are Katrina, me and Janet holding our finished Road Trip quilts. All so different and all so beautiful!!! Nice work!!!
Posted in Quilting, Sewing, Small Town Life, tagged Quilts, sewing camp on August 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Drum Roll Please!!!!! Just look at these amazing quilts that these young Sewing Campers made this week at The Studio. They are just beautiful…and these girls did a great job learning to use a sewing machine. Can you believe that only one had ever used a machine before???? And they did all this in just 6 hours (3 hours on Monday and Tuesday mornings). Great work quilters. We hope you will keep sewing!
Posted in Serendipity, Small Town Life, The Studio/Classes, Travel, tagged 4th of July, holiday, Independence Day, Studio Closed on June 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The Studio is closed today through next Tuesday in observance of Independence Day. We are taking a little time off to recharge and visit with family. We’ll be back on our regular schedule next Wednesday. In the meantime, have a great long Holiday weekend and remember the real reason we celebrate this day and read (or reread) the Declaration of Independence. You can see it here.
Posted in Quilting, Sewing, Small Town Life, tagged quilt, quilts of valor on March 30, 2023| 2 Comments »
One of the best things about social media is connecting to people with the same interests. I follow a couple of quilting groups on Facebook and yesterday there was a quilter who was asked to make a quilt for the “Quilts of Valor Foundation” on short notice and she put out a request for help. She was asking for help making red, white and blue quilt blocks (12 1/2″). Often when I read requests they are for pretty big projects and I don’t feel like I have to time to take them on but two blocks I knew I could get done quickly. I made a Flying-x and a Variable Star….so off they go in the mail to her today. If you aren’t familiar with “Quilts of Valor” you can click on the link and read about them. They have a very cool mission.
Posted in Quilting, Serendipity, Sewing, Small Town Life, Travel, tagged Hamilton, Missouri Quilt Museum, museum, Quilts on March 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
An unexpected and delightful surprise in Hamilton was the Missouri Quilt Museum located in an old multi-story school house. There were some amazing displays there from quilts to a machine collection and a miniature doll quilt collection. And the best part was the young man who was there to sell the tickets. His family runs the museum and he was a wealth of information. And he was thrilled to show us the quilt he had made. At 12 years old he is already on his way to be a terrific quilter.
The Studio 