Our Redwork group is very faithful–faithful about getting together and having fun!  We don’t always have Redwork to share, but we always have something to share!  I love to see what everyone is working on, and I’m sure you do, too.  Here’s what they ladies brought in January.

Robin is working on an Alphabet Quilt. I think the yellow and pink combination is really nice.

Adorable illustrations.

This is Happy’s Friendship Quilt.

What a lovely sentiment.

And the blocks are all very sweet.

This is Happy’s quilt from a coastal shop hop that she did.

I love the fabric for the crab, it looks like he has barnacles on him!

And here’s her Bow Tie quilt….

…every fabric in it is a polka-dot!

She had also done some charming, stitched Christmas ornaments.

One of the ladies had a few vintage blocks that don’t lay flat, and wondered what to do with them.  Our advice?  Take them apart and re-stitch them!

Another adorable Christmas ornament.  See, we do do Redwork!

Earlene is getting the most amazing blocks from her secret pal at guild.

She had mentioned on her form that she likes horses.

I think she thought her secret pal might use some horse fabric in her blocks.

But no!

She is appliqueing all these amazing blocks!

They are just incredible.

There are even horseshoes…

…and stars…

…and flying geese for fillers.

This is a corner block, according to the note that was attached to it.

We’re all so excited to see what it looks like when it’s put together.

Loretta is working on a Christmas Memories panel.

And Carol has done this great stitchery on linen.

 

I love the little trim she inserted.

It’s a very precious piece.

So much fun.

One of my current fabric lines is Christmas Memories.  It’s a small line, with an adorable panel and a companion snowflake fabric.  The line comes in Blue or Red.  When I got my sample fabric, I whipped up a quilt from the red colorway.  Much to my delight, today at our Redwork Club meeting I got to see a completed quilt top in blue!

Earlene did all the stitching on this one.

She did a fantastic job.

I just love how she did a little red in each block.

In some of them it’s quite obvious.

In others, you have to really look for it.

This wasn’t her original plan.

At first she did everything in blue…

…except this little dog’s tongue.

But once that was done…

…she thought every block should have a little red.

So she carefully unstitched a little bit in each block.

I think the result is fabulous!

Her are the two quilts, side-by-side.  It’s so funny, when I’m looking at the red one, I think I like it best, but when I’m looking at the blue one, I’m sure I like IT best!

Oh, I’m so fickle!

I’ve been busy making samples from my new fabric line, Bavaria.  My main project for the Timeless Treasures‘ booth at Quit Market is a quilt with 32 appliqué blocks!  So, every once in a while, I take a break from appliqueing and work on a small project–like this little stitchery.  I call her Gretel!

Once the stitching was finished she still looked a bit plain so I was going to embroider a line about a half inch in from the edge, but then inspiration struck–why not rick rack!?!  It was quick and I love the look of it.  There are twelve fabrics in this collection and it was fun to cut up a few squares from each one to “frame” her.

Speaking of the twelve fabrics, here they are!  I always name all of my prints.  This is the inspiration piece for the line and, of course, it’s called Bavaria!

Many years ago I was a tole painter, and I loved the Bavarian folk art that influenced a lot of my projects.  One of the things that I loved to do was paint folksy roses with just a few brush strokes, like this chest I painted many moons ago!

So I knew this collection would need a rose print in it.  Here’s Bavarian Rose.

I like to play with different grids and geometric elements, so Tulip Chain found it’s way into the line.

Four Flowers is just that–clusters of four folk art flowers.  This is the one I used as the lining in my Laptop Sleeve.  By following the paths between the flowers, I was able to quilt this without marking!  Gotta love that!  Actually, you could follow the design in the Tulip Chain for quilting, too.

I always want different scale in the lines, so Buds in Windows helps fill the bill for something small scale.  It’s also fun to have something with a little bit of a hard, geometric element.

And speaking of geometric, how about a stripe?  I didn’t want just a plain stripe, so this one, Bavarian Stripe, is filled with garlands of flowers.

Last but not least is Gridded Buds, another small scale print, but this time, it’s monochromatic.  I always like a little something that’s rather plain to give the eye a place to rest when making scrappy quilts–which most of mine are.

So, there you have it.  I hope to get the quilt top pieced today and then it’s onto the long arm.

We wer lucky to have visitors at Redwork this month!  Sherri and Jodi made the trip from Sandy, Oregon to be with us!

And they brought terrific show-and-tell!  Jodi is participating in the Farmer’s Wife quilt-along.  I just love her colors!

And she brought the original Auntie Dot’s Apron!

That orange print would have been perfect in my early ’70′s kitchen!

Sherri had a treasure trove of vintage show-and-tell, like these fabulous Rocky Road To Kansas blocks.

And check out this tinted linen crib quilt top!

I just have to show you some of the close-ups, they’re so adorable.

Giraffe (which I pronounced with a “t” on the end when I was little) has always been my favorite zoo animal.

Oh, my gosh.  Could these elephants BE any cuter?  Why is it no one ever makes cute donkeys? 😉

I don’t even like pigs and I think these are cute!

Sweet little lambs.

Mr. Sunshine playing peek-a-boo.  What baby wouldn’t sleep well under a crib quilt made from this top?

She also had some adorable Sunbonnet blocks.  I love how there’s a pair–Sam and Sue–from each print fabric.

Just look at this apron.  Someone went to a whole lot of trouble to match up those stripes!  For an apron!  I’m not sure you could get much in that pocket, but maybe a hankie.

And I’m in love with the daisy print on this apron.  Sherri is like the apron fairy godmother.  Just LOOK what she did for me once upon a time!

The other ladies came through, too.  Ann brought her quilt with a kite on it–our theme for the month, and the only kite textile the whole day!

Carol is embroidering Christmas napkins for her sister-in-law.

And Robin and her granddaughters are making eye masks to donate to their local hospital’s chemo department.  What a neat idea.

Anyone else want to come visit?  There’s only one requirement, you have to bring show-and-tell!

 

 

 

Just in time for Flag Day, here are some Patriotic Quilts, Wall Hangings and other show-and-tell from Redwork Club.

I love the “Long May She Wave!” wall hanging that Mary brought.

Linda said this flag was one of the first things she ever quilted.

Ann made this wall hanging.

My mom stitched this many years ago, and I quilted it.  There’s a LOT of stitching on it!

This wall hanging also belongs to Mary.

Robin always does such nice work, like this primitive piece…

…and this one, too.  Love her choice of background fabric.

Marla made this patriotic table runner.

Ann made this patriotic chicken with the wild hair.

Mary brought this Democratic donkey…

…and the elephant, too.  Way to be non-partisan, Mary!

These belong to Marla.

Hope you all remembered Flag Day!

 

Last month our Redwork theme was Spring, but we take any and all show-and-tell–and love it!

Loretta made this log cabin with the tiniest strips.  I think the blocks finished at 3″!

For our Spring Theme, she did bring this adorable chick table topper.

She’s also been working on my Christmas Memories panel in blue.  She does beautiful work.

Robin evidently missed the “Spring” notice!  She brought these adorable Halloween blocks.

Here’s another “Fall” entry–trees and leaves.

Eleanor had finally finished piecing a block-of-the month from Anna Lena’s.

Ann brought her Bloomin’ Jacket to show.

And Linda couldn’t wait to share her finished Chocolate quilt from a few years back.

Here’s a Dear Dorothy kit Linda made, all stitched around in a hand done buttonhole stitch.

I love her labels.

Cortne’ brought this little lamb as a sign of spring.

Here’s a cute spring wall hanging.  I think Mary did this one.

And I love The Stitcher.  I think it’s the hollyhocks that make it so special.

Robin brought this great quilt top that she stitched.

How do we keep getting Halloween in here!?!

And now Christmas!?!

A charming old tea towel.

And  a new tea towel.  They could be companions!

I asked Robin if I could borrow her Redwork folder, and she found these blocks inside!

Those baby shoes are sooooo cute!

I’m so far behind posting show-and-tell from Redwork, but I’m determined to get caught up1

Cortne` brought her finished house blocks.  I just love how she framed the black stitched blocks with black and that little touch of yellow.  Also, isn’t it cool how she did her layout four by three rather than the usual three by four.

Here’s a close-up of that great yellow accent.

Here are the same blocks done by Marla.  She used black floss, too, except she added green crayon to her trees and a little bit of red floss when there were chimneys

She also added yellow crayon to her windows.  What a great effect.

Other show-and tell included these snowman blocks.

I think Marla did these, too.

They’re adorable.

Robin had been working on her Over the River blocks.

And y mom’s show-and-tell was her polka-dot raincoat and hat!

And her TWO new canes with Swarovski bling!

Carol O. brought these.  I grew up saying the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer every night.

But I had never learned the morning companion prayer.

 

Our show-and-tell theme at Redwork this month was anything with hearts.

Carol O. said this was one of the first classes she took at Anna Lena’s–many years ago!

And for Cortne` this WAS her first class at Anna Lena’s.

She made this quilt to live in her husband’s sports car.

Mary made this gorgeous heart quilt.  She’s still working on hand quilting each of the hearts, but she’s well over half way finished.

Mary was our goodie godmother today, and she brought these pillows to decorate the goodie table. Also note the little heart box with yo-yo’s on top and the yo-yo mat underneath.

We used this for our table cloth today–a quilt Mary made from a Moda panel a few years back.

It’s really cute!

Mary also brought the vintage Valentine hanging here, and another heart wall hanging that she made.

Loretta hand appliqued all of these cute little hearts.

Eleanor went through her WIPs (Works in Progress) to find these heart blocks she won at quilt guild at least 7 years ago.  Now that they’re out, maybe she’ll put them together!

Linda didn’t have anything for heart show-and-tell so a few nights ago she whipped this up!  And hand quilted it, of course!

My mom really is the Queen of Hearts.  Since she no longer embroiders, she brought a lot of heart jewelry for show-and-tell–and a box of candies for each of us!  Thanks, Mom.

Of course we never limit ourselves to one topic when it comes to show-and-tell.  Mary brought this purse that she recently made and felted!

And she just started working on these adorable log cabin blocks with 1/2″ strips.

Amazingly, Loretta just started the same blocks!  Great minds….

Mary had this sweet, appliqued crib cover.  I’d never seen one on a striped background before.

Loretta brought her basket quilt back. She’s working on hand quilting the blocks.

Mary has the Halloween quilt top all put together.

Didn’t she do a great job on the embroidery?

And I LOVE the giant rick rack!

In her digging, Eleanor found these blocks that we did in Redwork club in 2001!  I love that we did red on white and white on red that year.  Most of the designs came from a vintage Redwork quilt that I bought in New York.   We did 24 blocks that year.

This one is especially cute.

Ann had finished this charming boys quilt.

She does such nice work.

Cortne` brought her house blocks and wanted advice on how to finish them.  We all loved the yellow and black frames.  I think she’s going to frame every other one with the white-on-black print and the black-on-white print.

I love how the yellow makes them pop.

Robin had been practicing her machine stitching on some doll quilts that she gives away.  She’d done a really nice job.

Nan brought me a two presents!  This vintage Grandmother’s Flower Garden quiltlette.

Don’t you love the layout.

And this embroidered days-of-the-week towel with a stitchin’ chicken!

Thanks, Nan, and everybody who shared.

At our last two Redwork Club Meetings, we had doll show-and-tell.

As you can see, we’re all a few years past the doll playing age, but just look at those faces.  Girls of any age still love dolls!  I thought I’d share them with you, too.

This is Patsy Ann.  Mary got her second hand when she was a girl and was very sick.

The ladies of her community refurbished old dolls for sick children.

And they made wonderful clothes to be given with the doll.  She was Mary’s first doll–and she cherishes her still.

This was another doll Mary got–still in the same trunk she was delivered in!

These porcelain dolls are very old.

This doll–and chair–belong to Cortne`.

These are the dolls that came the first time we had show-and-tell.  The big doll in the back belongs to my Mom.  She got her for selling subscriptions to the Seattle PI in about 1928.  She has disks that drop into her stomach and play music!  Also, in the front are two Patsy Ann dolls that belonged to my mom.

Some of the boxes the dolls were brought in were as interesting as the dolls themselves.  I love he pictures of the altar boys on this box of candles.

Mary’s uncle worked for an appliance store and this Hotpoint doll came from him.

This very old, very tiny dolls was amazing in its detail.

Marla brought her grandmother’s doll.

This trunk of doll clothes belongs to Cortne`’s dolls.

Here are a couple of them.

She even had a bride doll!

And a Polish doll–although she’s not Polish!

Cortne` admits to being a bit tough on their hair!

Melinda brought this photo of her with her doll–and her brother with a calf.  I LOVE it!  Update:  I just heard from Melinda.  The boy with the calf isn’t her brother, it’s Lee, her husband!

Another great box!

Inside were lots of dolls wrapped in–of all things–quilt blocks!

Really nice quilt blocks.

These chalk dolls were inside.  These were the biggest.

Most of them were small like this.

Melinda’s mom took some doll making classes a few years ago and made this wonderful doll…

…as well as this one.

Eleanor brought a Cupie doll that belonged to our friend Sally V.

Eleanor made this doll a few years ago.

When Robin’s girls were young and money was tight, she made them each a cradle for their dolls.  This is one of them.

I love how her daughter embellished them–even drawing a doll inside!

This Campbell’s Soup doll is also Robin’s.

Robin and I are the same age–the age to have had Barbies!

She has TWO carrying cases for their clothes.

They’re full of clothes and accessories, many of which Robin and her mom made.

Here’s Robin’s Ken, Barbie and Scooter–or is it Skipper?

Here are my Barbie and Ken.  My mom knit that dress and scarf!  I didn’t play with dolls much–I had a horse!  But my sister loved them and had lots of dolls and accessories.

Robin had this pair of glasses which my Barbie just had to try on.  Quite stylin’!

I also had Miss Revlon.  I do remember playing with her.  She had diamond earrings and a fur muff, coat and hat!

She’s really quite beautiful. Update!  I just learned this ISN’T a Miss Revlon doll.  She’s a Cindy doll.  Oh well, she’s still beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed our trip down memory lane with our dolls, and that it reminds you of some of yours!

Our theme last week at Redwork Club was monograms.

Here’s a beautiful “M” to start us out.

Happy E brought these two “P” linens.  When we asked her why the “P” she said….

“Oh, these were Mrs. Fishers!”  Well, that cleared that up.

I believe this is teeny, tiny cross stitch.

Another “M”…

…and a pretty pink “H”

The white-on-white is very pretty and subtle.

I’m sure women weren’t supposed to draw attention to themselves!

One of our members had made this for her aunt.

And now for the “More.”

Cortne’ had recently been given this 1930′s postage stamp quilt.

It was a feast of fabrics!

Loretta finished her Flower Basket quilt top.

She decided to do her butterflies in gold floss.

I think it turned out great!

And I just had to share with you the labels that Linda puts on her quilts.

These are hand embroidered.

She does an amazing job!