Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Farewell to March



Whew!  This has been a quick month.  As we approach the final week in March, I have to say that ours has been fantastic.

We have been fortunate to have two sets of houseguests staying with us this month.  Needless to say, the computer was cast to the back burner.

Our first guests were neighbors of our who moved to Colorado about eight years ago.  We so miss them.  Leslie and I could always get into so much creative trouble.  While they were here Leslie and I played around with a little eco dyeing.  Collecting flowers and tidbits from the yard, we wrapped, packed and cooked our fabrics in jars.  The colors are not great in the photo, but they came out so well.
The first jar contained eucalyptus leaves, geranium petals, blueberries and brown onion skins. 

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The second one was eucalyptus bark, pepper berries, citrus and oak leaves. 

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For a first attempt at it, I was quite pleased and am eager to try more of the technique.  My inspiration for this came from Nat Palaskas who blogs HERE.



Following their visit we were blessed to have my mother’s two “baby” brothers and my cousin’s wife come to stay with us.  This was a huge trip for them as both of my uncles are in their late 80s.  They had not seen my mom in about 12 years so the visit was incredible and I hated to see them leave on Sunday.  We played cards by the hours and laughed until our sides hurt!  Coming from Iowa they so enjoyed our warm sunshine after the winter they have experienced.

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Three siblings



Although my blog and sewing machine have been silent, I did manage to complete my goal of four NYBeauty blocks for this month's ALYoF.  I actually finished six of them.

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This is my collection to date - spread out on my design floor!!!


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I have some mail that I have received ans will share, but I will wait for my next post so this one isn't too long to read.

25 comments:

  1. What a fun family reunion! Love your dyed pieces~ what a great concept! Have a happy day!

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  2. Lovely blocks. How nice that you got to have family. Thanks for linking up.

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  3. We did 'natural' dyes with a 4-H group and then they used their fabrics for the year's project for entry in the local fair. Love the NYB blocks!!

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  4. We did 'natural' dyes with a 4-H group and then they used their fabrics for the year's project for entry in the local fair. Love the NYB blocks!!

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  5. 12 years, wow. I'll just bet the good times rolled. How fun to have a dear friend come play. I love the fabrics and your NY Beauty is just beauteous.

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  6. For a change, I won't mind saying goodbye to a month if it means we can say goodbye to snow! Can you believe it's been snowing in Alabama today??!! CRAZY! What a nice picture of your mom and her two brothers! They all have such nice smiles! Your NYB blocks are gorgeous, Mary -- I love the batiks you're using for them! :)

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  7. Your NY Beauty blocks are fabulous. It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your friends and family. I agree with you that the months just seem to fly by but I am SO ready for spring.

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  8. Visits from elderly relatives are so wonderful, with all of the stories of the past that they tell. I bet they hated to leave to go back to winter in IA.

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  9. How fun! Your houseguests and your projects! Hope you are doing well!

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  10. Sounds like some great houseguests! What card games do you like to play? Your quilt blocks are turning out so gorgeous!!!!

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  11. Oh Mary...I love our projects. Neat to see how these turn out, eh. And your NY Beauty is a real beauty!!
    have fun with your guests.

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  12. So glad March was good to you...special family visits, fun and interesting crafts AND making your block goal!

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  13. Greeting from Bangkok to you Mary. How exciting to see eco-dyed fabric posting on your blog! Lovely color and texture you have got. I'm in my last few days of my vacation. I'm going home this Saturday. Love Nat

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  14. Your mother is such an inspiration and I'm so glad she (and you all) got to spend time with her brothers!

    I might actually look into that dying! Looks like fun....even to this oh, so not creative one!

    Love that NYbeauty quilt...it will be stunning.

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  15. Oh my stinking gosh.....those blocks are amazing....

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  16. So nice to have some house guests to enjoy . Your NYB blocks look amazing !

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  17. What a neat idea of dying your own fabrics! I love, love, love your NYB blocks! That's on my list of quilts to make ... so many quilts, so little time. ha!

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  18. Oh, I can just hear the laughter and good times that must have come from your house, Mary! Eco dying sounds like fun and your NYB is really taking shape!
    Cheers!

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  19. It's always such a treat to spend time with family that we haven't seen in a while! Sounds like this was a particularly nice visit :) LOVE your NYB blocks! I have one of those in my future - hopefully sooner rather than later :*)

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  20. What a fabulous treat to have not one but two sets of such special visitors. A great month indeed! I love your NYB blocks. That's quite a gorgeous collection you have now!

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  21. I just LUV your NYBeauty blocks, anything with spikes, actually. Liking your dyeing experiments as well. Nat is a good inspiration. I just found the comments you left me in "spam", which I rectified. Enjoyed the visit!
    best, nadia

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  22. Love your dying experiments! I need to try it! Visitors are so wonderful! Your beauties look almost done and are so lovely and colorful! Thank you for the birthday wishes!

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  23. I love Your project, Mary. Your blocks look beautiful together.

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  24. You have some excellent genetics on your side. Your uncles do not look like they are in their late 80s at all. More like in their 70s. How wonderful they could come to visit your Mum. I'm sure it was a special time for all of them.

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  25. How wonderful for your Mum and Uncles.

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