Magpie Quilts

Cruise ships docked at Skagway Alaska After spending a week on an Alaskan cruise, I am slowly getting back to normal. I miss our room steward who came in while we were at breakfast and made our bed and straightened our room. I miss the ease of not having to think and plan for meals! I miss that our stateroom was situated in such a place that we were able to build in walking and stairs into our daily routine and we were able to put on our 10,000 steps daily. I miss the gorgeous scenery and especially wish we could have spent more time in Ketchikan where there were beautiful flowers everywhere and lots to see! Fabric bought in Juneau Alaska I am glad to be home though, and have some ideas for new products for my shop and ideas for new quilts. You'll see more of that over the next few months! I'm not sure if the fabric I bought in Alaska will end up in products for my shop or if I will use it for projects closer to home. Antique postcards reproduced on fabric Till

We had a little workshop a few weeks ago at our guild and we made some cute little bags to hold lap size travel blankets for in the car or on an airplane. With airlines charging for every little extra, these little travel blankets are the perfect addition to your carry-on luggage. Just slip the strap over the handle on your suitcase and you'll have your own blanket to keep you warm during your flight. These are also great for in the car - just hang behind your seat from your head rest. Then when the driver turns up the A/C and you just want to turn up the heat, you can unroll this blanket and everyone is happy. The blanket is just a light weight polar fleece blanket about 42" x 60". Fleece doesn't fray at the edges, so just cut to size or finish with a simple 1/2" folded over hem. I rounded the corners on mine. The carry case is made from 2 fat quarters of fabric and a strip of Velcro to keep it in. I made these for my grand-daughters for this Christmas!

I love to travel! And sometimes it seems just a little unfair that my sweet husband, who is very much a homebody, gets to travel with his job. Completed T-shirt quilt  And I have been having some twinges of envy of my friend, who's travels have resulted in a collection of T-shirts that she's asked me to make into a quilt. As I piece, I imagine what it might be like to be in London, Paris or the Great Wall of China! T-shirt logos getting arranged for piecing After backing the T-shirt logos with light-weight interfacing, they were cut out and placed on the design wall to find the best layout. Because pieces weren't all the same size, pieces of black, gray or deep burgundy were added to bring them all together. Pieced in sections There's no border - just a plain black binding to pull it all together and a lovely deep gray flannel for the back - perfect for snuggling on a cold winter's evening or for watching fireworks on a cool summer night! Cozy fla

When the sun starts to shine a little brighter and the grass turns green and the leaves start to pop open on the trees, I like to be outside in the yard and garden. Lilac buds There's something about spring and garden planting that makes me think about hope and new life and promises kept. Something about planting a seed and knowing that by itself, it's just a small, dry piece of nothing. When it's planted and the sun shines on it and the rain waters it, it swells and grows into exactly what it was meant to be - a pumpkin, a pea plant, a carrot. Garden greens peeking through  Sometimes it looks like there is nothing there, but then a bit of green pops up, a flower blooms and then it's gone again for the rest of the season like this yellow lady's slipper. Yellow Lady's Slipper Others look small and delicate, like the lily of the valley, but they are persistent and will slowly spread over a large area if not contained. Lily of the Valley And th