Holiday Marketplace Over for this year!

My largest craft show of the year is finally over!  I know--no blogging since the end of October!

It's really busy and hectic getting ready for a show.  I spread out everything in my living room. These's all the pricing to do, making sure everything thing is tagged.  I go through everything taking inventory and organizing, so set up will not be a hassle.  I make sure that I have all the proper signage that I might need.  Ialso make sure I will have need of nothing for set up, say, a screw driver for my grid display or the proper seasonal table cover.  I make lists so I will not forget anything!

So how was the show, you say.  Well, I've done four years at the same show, and frankly, this show was a little slower than I would have liked. It usually has more traffic.  I am not disappointed, but it could have been better.

One bright spot was the volunteer helpers, I'm sure they were children of the ladies group who hosted the show. One little gal constantly kept up with me asking if I needed anything.  She brought my lunch from the holiday cafe, brought coffee and generally perked up my day!  Then she asked me to take her picture, and she posed with my pet stockings.  Her name was Serena and she was delightful!

Thanks Serena, for all your help! 

Next Event Coming Soon!

My next event is my biggest craft/bazaar show of the year!  November 11th and 12th.

I have been participating in the New Hope Marketplace for three years now and am looking forward to year four!

As already mentioned in a previous post, my theme this year will be "Little Houses".  I will be displaying the small wall quilt that was in the recent quilt show, and selling lots of items that feature little houses.  See previous post about this little quilt:

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2016/09/moving-not.html

Also, I have already blogged about some of my new 'little house' products:

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2016/09/more-houses.html

http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2016/10/tuesdays-tea-towels.html

So . . . sew . . .  today I want to show you my "Little House" ornaments!  I think they are so cute, besides being unique!

As usual, I often finish my posts with: 

"Whatca think?"

Quilt Show Rap-up

I was recently entered in the Old Aurora Colony Museum's annual quilt show that ran from October 14th thru Oct 23rd.   It was fun to show my quilt, (which will also be displayed at the upcoming New Hope Marketplace in my booth).  There were lots of antique quilts and a couple of Amish quilts from Berlin Ohio and, of course, the handiwork of many of our local quilters.  Although I didn't take many pictures,  I do have these two:

My favorite of the show, since the smallest of the pieces in the quilt are about dime size!  Wow! What an awesome piece of work--keeping all that straight!

This one that has great applique. My youngest daughter is enjoyinng it!

And then there is my quilt in a 'not-so-great picture' of me sitting in front of it. Just don't look at me--Enjoy the quilt!  :)  I just needed another opportunity to show it off! :)

OK, quilt show done, on to other projects!

Foggy Autumn in SW Portland - WW

P.S.  You might want to open the pictures in a separate window.  The sunshine thru the fog is pretty awesome looking and doesn't show too well in these small pictures.

Moving on to New Baby Creativity!

The quilt show being over, now is the time to switch the gears of creativity.   I want to share some of my recent creativity in regard to babies!  I am going to be a great-grandmother again!  Can you guess the sex of the baby with this little embroidery hoop that I made:

For sale at my next bazaar!

Yep!  It's a girl, but no pink for her!  Her mother wanted bright colors for the baby blanket:

It's made of fabrics that I had left over from all the aprons that I have made for my wholesale customer in the past several years.  I added a bright backing of stripes and a monkey print.  It really turned out to be fun!

Besides this project for my granddaughter, I had a client's custom project--a layette for her baby. Here's a few pictures. The interesting thing about this project was that we ordered the cute panda fabric from France!

Minky Blanket and Nursery Pillow

Fun bibs!

Receiving blankets

Matching diaper bag!

Whew, that was a large project, not even showing all the items!  Lots of work and satisfaction for me! Now it is on to my craft show season!

Crazy About Aurora

You may remember that I entered a small wall quilt in a local quilt show.  See that post:  http://atticreflections.blogspot.com/2016/09/moving-not.html

When I went to visit the show on Saturday with my daughter, I also entered their Twenty-second Annual Block Contest.  The Old Aurora Colony Museum hosts the quilt show and block contest to raise their yearly operating funds.  The block contest solicits entries from local quilters.  Blocks are displayed at the quilt show and at the end of the week, they are judged on size, workmanship and overall appearance.   20 blocks are chosen to make up a new quilt.   Museum members spend the year putting the quilt together.  The finished quilt is then auctioned off at the next quilt show.  Proceeds benefit the Aurora Colony Historical Society and it's programs.    I hope my my block will be one of the blocks that is chosen!

The name of this years block contest is "Crazy About Aurora".  All blocks must be crazy quilt style.   My block features the Steinbach Log Cabin which is an authentic pioneer log cabin from 1876 and one of five buildings found on the museum grounds.

Here is my entry:

It features ribbon embroidery, fused applique, hand embroidery and attached trims.  I did my block in pinks since it is October and Breast Cancer Awareness month!  Wish me luck!!  I sure would like to be featured in the quilt for next year!!!

Autumn Fun!

I literally love Autumn!  It's my favorite season;  yes, Spring beauty rivals it, but my heart soars as the weather cools, so I can enjoy a crisp morning on my patio among my mums.  I have anxiously been waiting for their blooms!

I took my camera out the other day, after a morning rain and captured a few shots of area trees beginning to display their colors:

And this one that seemed a bit confused, with only half of it turning color!

Happy Autumn Everyone!

Columbus Blue Day Sail

It's said that . . .

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

And he discovered America!  It's Columbus Day here in the USA, and we have a holiday.    Banks and official buildings are closed,  and some stores have sales.  So why not I?

This sale is just for you (my lovely readers)
who are "Johnny-on-the-Spot" (an old American idiom)
because it will only last one day!  

TODAY ONLY!

 Use coupon code:    

Columbus16 

in any of my shops and receive FREE SHIPPING

(to sail across the ocean blue if need be :)

Thanks for taking a look 

and don't forget to use your coupon

for the

Blue Day Sail (Sale)!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I'm a survivor and so happy about it!  I am blessed as a survivor of over ten years and I want others with the disease to be favored too!  Favored with a cure!

October is the month for me to celebrate and the month to collect donations for the cure!   I am adding links for your conscience for any possible donations that you would like to make.  Also, you could find a run/walk and support the cause.  You can sponsor a walker.  I would like to encourage you to "make an effort" to support the cause.  Hey! even the NFL football players wear pink this month!  I salute them for their effort!  

And this pic from our college UO Ducks team: (I'm an Oregonian, whatcha expect?  :)

Picture from the uoduckstore blog 2014

Making Strides link

BCRF link

National Breast Cancer Foundation link

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Wordless Wednesday--Family Summer Gallery!

Almost wordless . . . remembering summer family activities . . . .

Watching my boys play ball- sons and grandson

Spending time together on the 4th

Our Five Generation Picture with my mom, son, g-daughter, and great grandson

And the best part of the summer . . .  these grand gals

Tuesday's Tea Towels

After making my little house quilt (see Sept 26th post) I made several more styles of houses for kitchen towels, and hand towels.  

 "little houses"  towels

 I happened to find this little house print fabric at the fabric store.  I had to buy it!  

Terry towel finished product

Free motion textile art tea towels/dish towels

Love "drawing" with thread and fabric!

Again, these are not listed in my shop yet, but they are part of my new "Little House" line!

More houses . . .

I said in my last post that I have bee obsessed with little houses in my crafts.  Thought I would begin to share what I have been up to!

How about some zipper bags with  textile art houses for decoration!  Loved making these! I used scraps from my scrap piles to make the houses.  Love that they use up every inch of my fabrics for creativity!   My granddaughter loves them!

Old newspaper fabric base

"Community housing" :)

Free motion stitching for outlining

I have not listed these on my Etsy site, yet;  I am contemplating saving them for my Big Show in November in which my theme is little houses.  Whatcha think?

Moving? . . . Not!

For those of you who know me, I was scheduled to move from our little apartment into a house last week, but the purchase deal fell through when the sellers backed out at the last minute--literally!  I was so disappointed!  It was a cute little house right next door to where my oldest son would be living. (He was the proposed buyer of the two houses.)

embroidered little house with scrap fabric flower beds

After more than ten years, I would have been moving into a house again!  I had purchased a few new furniture items (still in my storage) in anticipation of the closing!   I was so excited to live in the "little house"!

Anyway, in the mean-time, I became fascinated, or should I say obsessed,  with little houses in several craft venues--quilts, ornaments, pillows, watercolor, etc.  My Pinterest category "Houses" is packed with ideas!  If you are interested, here is the link:

https://www.pinterest.com/thepinkgrammy/houses/

One of my Pinterest 'saves' was a picture of a little house wall quilt that was advertising a class.  You could sign up and make the quilt in the class.  Obviously, I couldn't physically be at this class (the only option) so I did my own quilt adapting the idea from one picture!  I love hand embroidery and collages!  I save scraps of ribbon, fabrics and all sorts of buttons, so this was a perfect project for me! I finished it in early September.

Un-be-known to me at the time of making my little quilt, an opportunity was brewing.  In the end of August, I received an application to be in a quilt show in which I had participated in 2010.  The Old Aurora Colony Annual Quilt Show -- It will be their 44th year and the theme just happened to be:

"Home at Last" 

An Aurora Sampler

Boy! Was I surprised and excited!  I finished my little wall hanging quickly and entered it, of course!  

The Show is in October--the 14th thru the 23rd, if you are local.  More info is on this site (Be sure to check out their fascinating history!):

www.AuroraColony.org

Here's a couple more pictures of my beauty: 

I will keep you updated with the progress of the show and my little house quilt!  (Also will share some of my other "little house" creations later in the week.)

Where'd the summer go?

We made several short trips around Oregon this summer.  Here is one of them to Fort Stevens State Park on the extreme Northwest tip of Oregon where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Mouth of the Columbia River, Washington on the other side

Friendly sea gulls

And a walk on the beach . . .

And as this was a grey day in May, it probably still looks this way in this early Autumn season, as Summer is now gone.  Speaking of  that, I am having a Summer Clearance sale in one of my shops.  Many of my older items must be gone to make way for my new "little house" items!  (See upcoming Monday and Tuesday's posts!)

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PruittCreations?ref=hdr_shop_menu&section_id=19077899

Check it out!  and if you do, use this coupon code for an extra 15% discount:

 Use code:  

Hooray16

Good only thru September 30th

Hooray! Back to Blogging!

Well, It's not Spring . . . . It's the first day of Autumn!  Long Hiatus! I won't explain, just a few pics of what I have been up to:

Spring trip with my daughter to see my mom, friends and also visit my dad's & my first husband's grave-sites--

Road trip to home town

generational morning newspaper

First Husband and daughter's dad's grave site

And a trip to our old home place in the Sierra Nevada foothills full with springtime flowers--

White flower patch

close-up of fence line

fiddleneck

Road to a friends place

Well, you get the idea.  I've been busy with trips, health issues, and plans for moving that fell through (pooh), and now getting ready for the holidays!

I'd love to share some of my other adventures for the last six months-- trips to the beach, cosplay costuming, picnics, etc. and I will in future posts.  For now, it is great to be back to blogging!  Also, Watch for updates on my new "house" line of gifts with a sewing tutorial or two thrown in.  Stay tuned!

And as a . . .  

"Hooray, I'm back" promotion, 

You can use this coupon code in any of my shops for a 15% discount

 thru the end of the month--Sept. 2016!  

Use code:  Hooray16

www.pruittcreations.etsy.com

www.abigailJayneART.etsy.com

www.pruittsupply.etsy.com

And, don't forget to come back later this week to see what's up in Linda/Abby's creative-land!