So, if you listened to either Daisy's most recent podcast episode or this one of mine, you know that I won Daisy's Twitter giveaway on Black Friday of a completed quilt top from her stash. I received it in the mail this week...
I'd put my name in for it because I loved the colors and hey, it's a quilt from Daisy! Who wouldn't want one?
It was only later that I began to think...hey, that design looks familiar.
Here's picture of a quilt I made for my son a few years back. Somehow I never got a picture of the finished product but trust me, it did get finished and it's currently on his bed in his apartment. (Or in a rumpled heap on the floor but I choose not to think about that.)
It's a design from one of the Strip Club books, using 2 1/2" strips. (Please note--there are a few books in the series and I have a couple of them, so I grabbed a link to one but can't guarantee it's the book this design is in.) I'd always loved the design and had periodically thought over the years, "Maybe I should make myself another one...." Well, boy howdy. Now I don't have to! Wheee!
I plan to send this out to a longarmer, and I think it'll go on our guest room bed. Unless my daughter lays claim to it next time she's home, which she is wont to do.
I also received this in the mail this week:
This is a lovely little keychain change purse from Jackie of Sew Excited Quilts.
It's so cute! And yes, it's on my keychain, although it doesn't have any change in it at the moment.
Perhaps next time I go on a shop hop or visit vendors at a show, I should put as many bills as I'm planning to spend in this, and leave the credit cards at home! (Of course, it also looks like it might be the right size to hold said credit cards...hmmmm....)
And the third thing I received has a little bit of a story behind it.
Several times over the last couple of years I've had the privilege of visiting one of our denominational mission sites, a residential campus about 90 mins outside of Phoenix for adults with developmental disabilities, named Rainbow Acres. It's an amazing place--I could go on for several blog posts. (If you're in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend you go visit and even volunteer there--you won't regret it!) The adults, referred to as "ranchers," have a variety of jobs they can choose from. One of the things that Rainbow Acres has become well known for is it's weaving. Several of the adults are gifted weavers and love doing it. A couple of the times I visited, the man who is their head weaver quickly took to his loom to show me how to do it, his enthusiasm for the task bouncing out of every word he said. When people purchase the weavings (or paintings, or other items created by ranchers), half the proceeds go back to the rancher him or herself. I'd purchased paintings on an earlier trip, but had admired some shawls they were making. Since I'd just bought the paintings I didn't feel I could also afford the shawl.
However, when I was there in July and we were visiting the weaving room once again, I saw a pile of skeins of yarn they had just received. As we fiber people are known to do, I made a beeline for the pile and dove my hands right into it. Oohing and aahing, I couldn't stop petting the stuff. It was a gorgeous shade of gray with variegated purples and blues, and tremendously soft. The staffperson doing inventory told me that had just arrived and they were deciding what to do with it. She then raised an eyebrow and said, "We do work on commission, you know." Sold. I asked for a shawl done with that yarn, and just received it this week (in perfect time for our ever-dropping temperatures!)
Front
This type of shawl has a name that start with a P--not Pashmina--but I'm blanking. It's joined in the back but open in the front. It'll be perfect for my home office which is right above the garage and ever-so-much-nippier than the rest of the house.
In fact, I'm wearing it right now. Toasty.
Back
Ah, to be surrounded by so much beauty. I can barely stand it!