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What a blessing it is to live in America ~ and to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday! I am proud to display our nations flag and grateful to those who have lived, worked, and died to protect our freedoms!

I couldn’t resist taking photos on this Fourth of July of some of the patriotic items and quilted decor Mike and I enjoy in our home. I hope you’ll enjoy them to. The photograph at the very top of this post is of just a few of the flags lining the road in front of Shorehaven in Oconomowoc. Shorehaven is the lovely senior home where my parents have spent the past year. Dad is still doing well there. Mom has had a very blessed time and ministry while in hospice, and no one thought she’d be with us this long, but now she is nearing the end. She will be 92 on July 8th and, whether she makes it to her birthday or not, we are grateful that she is ready to be with Jesus ~ and we’ve had this time to say goodbye.

So, as I walked around the house on this Independence Day, I first came to a quilt I made for dad and mom many years ago. It now hangs in our home. I’ve always loved the way the striped fabric frames the star.

In our entryway Mike’s mom’s cedar chest is covered with a red, white and blue Seminole runner. I’ve taught my Seminole Sampler class many times recently, and this is just one of the lovely projects that can be made with this type of strip piecing.

“How Beautiful ~ Liberty” is hanging in the dining room.

You may remember this 3D quilt made for the National Quilt Museum’s “New Quilts From an Old Favorite” contest that challenged quilters to do something innovative with the New York beauty block. From the right you see what is (in my opinion) the true New York beauty ~ the Statue of Liberty. And from the left you can see my version of this lovely quilt block.

The words surrounding the 3D center are from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. It may not be red, white and blue, but it is patriotic nonetheless.

Our powder room has quilts with an American theme hanging year round (we really do love our country!)

This one spilled out of the powder room and onto the front hall wall for the season.

While one of my few completed wool projects hangs on a door.

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Thanks for joining in on my little tour.

God has blessed the USA for 250 years! Thank you God!

At our last two ports of call on my recent cruise around the United Kingdom we visited Edam and the countryside of the Netherlands; and Brugge, Belgium. On the internet we discovered that there was a quilt shop in Brugge and it was not far from the center of town. The hours on the website said it would be open during our visit, as did the sign on the shop door. But just as in Belfast, we were disappointed.

Belgium is known for lace, but I think I’ll give that subject it’s own post next week. So… we had a wonderful non-fabric visit to these lovely countries that tended to focus on water and food rather than fiber. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Our ship docked quite a ways from Amsterdam. We decided that since we’d been to a number of large cities, we’d take an excursion into the countryside of Holland. We drove past dikes and windmills, soaking up the interesting history of this area that was built on mostly water.

The scenery was lovely as we traveled to Edam ~ a city known for cheese!

We enjoyed the architecture along our walking tour and an ice cream treat in a local shop. Then we were taken to a location where they demonstrated the making of cheese.

The tasting room in the shop was delightful, and the history of making wooden shoes was very interesting.

As we exited the shop there was a huge wooden shoe. It was much bigger than the ones I tried on when Wendy and I were in the Netherlands is 2007.

It was a fun day. Then, the last day of our adventure took us to Brugge, and I think it was my favorite destination. There were canals

lined with beautiful homes and gardens.

And the town itself was filled with a variety of lovely shops. My German grandmother (and my mom too) were known for schaum torte ~ a crispy meringue delicacy we top with ice cream and strawberries. In Belgium we found a shop specializing in different flavors of meringues. They looked delicious.

We stopped for morning pastries at a small family run cafe. I indulged in the owner’s wife’s gingerbread cake, made from her grandmother’s recipe. It was amazing.

That afternoon at a cafe along the canal we had our final meal of fish and chips (the Europeans make it so well that we enjoyed it in many different countries on the trip). We were joined by a pair of beautiful swans.

After a visit to a farm market and more wandering, we couldn’t resist one final treat ~ Belgian waffles with ice cream and chocolate. The waffles were crisp on the outside and warm and soft inside. A wonderful finale!

And since we’re talking about food, I have one more photo to share. Our tour guide in Ireland passed around her own Irish Stew recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but I love that I have it in her own handwriting (please let me know if you decide to try it).

All good things must come to an end. Goodbye from the Norwegian Sky, Marie and I (I’m not sure that’s proper grammar, but it rhymed 🤣)

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PS I had a lovely time teaching for a guild in Champagne, IL this past week. During my lecture I promised I’d share the links to 2 items I talked about in my lecture. Click here for the Bulls Eye Compass (ruler for drawing circles), and for the Yard Stick Compass click here.

Before I get to the Irish part of our journey, I wanted to respond to a comment from June about this photo from the shop in Kirkwall, Scotland.

The thistle sprig is a symbol of Scotland. The shop had a jar of them for £3.50 (British pounds).

The sales person gifted me one with my fabric purchase and I set it on the fabric for the photo above. The name of the fabric line printed on the selvedge is “Little Johnny”. I looked it up and it was printed in the UK.

Also, this week I couldn’t resist sharing the iron designs on a church in Scotland – you’ll find that photo at the top of this post.

Our next stop was Belfast, Northern Ireland. We arrived early in the morning and headed for St. George’s Market. It was a feast for the senses.

There were vendors with everything from fish to jewelry.

One booth was named Rosemallow Flowers. This vendor made jewelry with resin from wildflowers she grows herself.

I absolutely love the pair of earrings I purchased.

After lunch at the market we decided to start our hike to the Patchwork Goose quilt shop. It was 2.7 miles away, but we were up for the walk ~ if it meant we’d find a quilt shop. Their website said they were open, but when we arrived no one was there except a disappointed Marie (and me).

The long walk back into the city wasn’t quite as much fun, but we did enjoy seeing a less tourity part of the city and then ~ downtown Belfast didn’t disappoint.

The dome in the government building was beautiful. I love the play of circles and arcs in this photo. I think I see a piece of fiber art looming.

We’d reached a point where we needed to stop for a chocolate and tea break, and we met up with Kristi doing the same thing in a pretty shop. She told us there was a fabric store just a few blocks away!!! So we headed out once again ~ and it was open!

Sadly they were having a “going out of business sale”. They still had plenty of nice things available.

The staff was wonderful – and we found some fun purchases.

The fabric I purchased in this next photo has Celtic designs ~ and the ladies threw 3 bunches of “zips” in as a bonus. I think that’s what I’ll call them from now on.

The next day we arrived in Dublin. Marie and I signed up for an all day shore excursion which included a bus tour through the city and then a drive out to a Christian settlement from the 800s. It was a beautiful day and the ruins and scenery were gorgeous (more arcs!)

As were the sheep. They dotted the landscape all along our way.

It was a lovely tour, but no fiber to be found (unless the wool on the sheep counts 😊).

The next day we spent at sea and we were entertained with a different type of art – food art! It was fun to watch these talented chefs create before our eyes.

While on the ship we often took the glass elevators. As I looked for shapes and inspiration I saw arcs not only in the building in Belfast, but in the church ruins near Dublin ~ and in the ship’s elevators.

It’s everywhere! I hope you have an inspiring week!

Inspiration is everywhere ~ colors, shapes, emotions ~ and we found so much of it on our trip. Our first port of call on the cruise was Le Havre, France. Marie and I chose to do a shore excursion to Monet’s home and gardens in Giverny. It was a cool but beautiful day, and the bus ride was only a bit more than an hour long. Both Marie and I were surprised to note that the landscape along the bus route looked a lot like Wisconsin. Monet’s gardens were amazingly beautiful.

And the bees were happy there (look closely).

We were fortunate to get there before the crowds got too big. Then we were taken to an old sugar beet distillery. It hasn’t been used to make sugar for a long time.

Instead it’s been converted into an event venue ~ and the food was delicious!

Our final stop on that tour was the city of Rouen and I’m saving what we saw there for a future post. The following morning our ship arrived at Edinburgh, Scotland. The Norwegian Sky was too large to dock in town so we had to ride in on a tender. As we entered the harbor we were greeted by a lighthouse, complete with a bag pipe player in a kilt!

We enjoyed walking along the Royal Mile in the city of Edinburgh. The photo at the top of this post is of the castle from the main road, but we began our walk with this view. Truly medieval.

There were even treasures in the sidewalk ~like this pretty mosaic.

The colorful shops were such a contrast to the ancient buildings.

We found oodles of shops with Harris Tweed items (note the vintage sewing machine),

and other fabric related things (there’s a vintage machine on the sign!)

The inside of this shop did not disappoint (hand-made items and another Singer machine!)

This window was at a tailor’s shop with no machine, but scissors, a needle and thread.

It was a lovely stroll down the Royal Mile – and we ended it with hot chocolate in a shop amidst the bustle of tourists and locals.

The next day we arrived in the Orkney Islands and Kirkwall along the northern coast of Scotland. The islands were so interesting and had a rugged beauty all their own, combined with so much history.

Kirkwall was filled with fun shops and a beautiful church. But we were on a mission to find Jude’s Fabric and Joke Shop. We headed to the address on our GPS.

This didn’t look promising, and we assumed it was defunct. So, we headed to the craft fairs advertised along the main street. They were great, and one of the artists told us to go to Jude’s. When we said it wasn’t there, she told us to give it another try. So we returned and went through the brown door by the garage door. Ooh – there was a sign!

We wandered for a while in the overcrowded spaces, and finally found the door (with no sign). When we asked the sales lady about our difficulty in finding the shop she responded “our customers know where to find us” 😂.

It was worth the search!

What a lot of stuff! We found the cottons along with buttons and other delights along the front wall.

And another Singer ~ this one with a hand crank!

The fabric I just had to take home with me was simply a quilters cotton, but the design of embroidered flowers looked very 3D. And notice the “Thistle Sprig” the sweet saleslady included with my purchase (a symbol of Scotland).

She was so sweet.

What a wonderful time we had in France and Scotland!

In May I had yet another wonderful adventure. My friend Kristi put the tour together, and it was the second trip I’ve taken with Marie. We arrived in England two days before our amazing cruise and spent a day in both London and Windsor. Marie had never been to Liberty in London, so we had to start there.

She loved the beauty of this elegant store – and the fabric!

This was printed on a wall near the fabric department:

They had quilts, garments and yarn arranged so beautifully all around the fourth floor (the photo at the top of this post is of a quilted representation of the building itself).

I was especially taken with the kits for these wonderful embroideries. If you look closely you’ll see that the background fabric has pieces of shiny, colorful sheers placed in just the right areas to make the hand-stitching more beautiful. If you’re interested in these lovely kits you can visit the creators website by clicking here.

After our visit to Liberty we found a pub and had some delicious soup for lunch. The food was great, but the decor was the intriguing part. While waiting to be served I noticed an eclectic collection of things on a high shelf – which included a vintage sewing machine (can you find it?)!

Then after lunch a journey to the rest rooms (“toilettes” in the UK) led me to a most interesting staircase! I wonder who this is.

The decor in the toilette didn’t disappoint either. What lovely hand mirrors.

From there we walked to Buckingham Palace, and then our trek took us to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament. We saw it all and were really tired because we’d been flying through the night, visited wonderful sites, and it was still early afternoon. So we decided to get on a “hop-on, hop-off” boat and see more sites from the River Thames. That ride ended at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

We grabbed fish and chips at another pub (stay tuned for that photo), and then got on a train back to our hotel at Heathrow… and a good night’s sleep (12 hours!!!)

We spent our second day in Windsor and toured the castle.

At this point I can’t resist sharing a few foodie photos. The colors alone are inspiring! A delight for the eyes and the tummy!

The following morning we rode a bus to Southampton and our ship ~ the Norwegian Sky.

Here’s the map of all our ports of call. I think you can imagine why we wanted to sign on ~ 7 countries in 14 days! We are truly blessed.

We’d had an amazing trip already and our ship hadn’t left the port. Next week my post will cover Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France… and more!

Over a year ago I posted about a lovely opportunity I had to speak and share my quilts at a Christian Women’s Retreat (click here for that post). Since then I’ve been invited to speak at other women’s events in churches in Wisconsin. Each time has been a blessing. Recently a church in a small town on the west side of the State had me come and share my testimony and quilts in three lectures during their Spring Ladies Luncheon. It was all wonderful! I stayed with the Pastor and his wife ~ and they excelled at hospitality. We had wonderful conversations, and Tracy is an excellent cook.

The ladies of the church put out a request for quilts to decorate with prior to my visit, and the response was quite impressive. This was the entry display:

Along with a few other areas:

The tables were set so beautifully.

I was especially taken with the star quilt on the wall in the last photograph. Tracy told me that the daughter of the woman who made it gave her some worn shirts from her four sons. She used them in the quilt ~ buttons and all. Delightful!

The theme for the day was “Designed For a Purpose”, and the verse I’d chosen for my talks was Ephesians 2:10. One of the women in the church had a Cricut™ machine. She cut the letters from paper and they were stuck to the wall of the fellowship hall with sticky dots. How clever.

Even the ledge in the stairway was decked out for the occassion.

The pasta bar lunch was delicious, with desserts of tuxedo cake and crème brûlée. Yum!

And the church ladies even had a craft set up where all those present were able to paint their own quilt blocks.

There were so many sweet ladies there aged from youth to retirement. A few were quilters, but many were not.

I didn’t get any photos of my talks, but that’s ok with me. I just hope that my message brought glory to the Lord, and that the attendees were encouraged to know Him and walk closely with Him. I know I was!

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And one more thing…

This past Thursday I returned from a wonderful adventure cruising around the United Kingdom. I’m currently jetlagged and trying to go through my photographs, so I wasn’t ready to post about the trip yet. I did however visit one place that unexpectedly related to this week’s post. The small town I was in for the above event was Avoca, WI. Imagine my surprise when one of our stops while touring the countryside around Dublin, Ireland was a woolen mill in Avoca:

The mill had a small museum and a lovely gift shop.

The museum contained an old loom,

and the story of the Wynne sisters.

The colors of the items available in the gift shop were yummy!

Sadly the mill was not running while we were there, but the vist was lovely nonetheless. I’m grateful to have been able to spend time in both Avocas!

A few weeks ago I taught for a quilt guild in northern Illinois. Kathy came up to me and said she was the “blue bird lady”. I remembered she’d sent me a photo of her bird quilt that I shared in my recent “bird” post (click here to read that post). After that post I did another one that asked readers to send me photos of their squirrel quilts – and Kathy brought hers to the meeting. She said she’d been a kindergarten teacher and her students loved it when she sang the song “Gray Squirrel”. How sweet. The musical notes in the border fabric represent the song! I was pleased she thought to bring it to the meeting.

The first photo I received in response to my post was from Diane:

“We have a friend whose nickname is Squirrel so I made this quilt for him.“

I’m sure Squirrel loved it! Then Bonnie wrote:

“Hi Kris, I just happen to have a quilt with a squirrel on it! I made this a couple of years ago, using some free appliqué pillow patterns as the source for the 2 big pumpkins and the critters. Squirrels are a great source of entertainment at our house because we have a “squirrel bungee” with a corn cob on it, and watching them jump up and bounce around on it is pretty humorous!“

Delightful! Another email came from Maud:

“Good morning, Your timing on the squirrel quilt is spot on. This year my local library asked me to make a quilt for a fundraiser. The library’s mascot is a squirrel named Oaklee, chainsaw carved from a dying oak tree in their front lawn.”

“Following their squirrel lead, I had so much fun making this quilt to fit the theme. The squirrel and leaves are made from wool I hand dyed years ago. The raffle drawing is May 2nd and I hope it makes a lot of much needed money for my wonderful library!”

I’m sure the quilt was a hit in the raffle.

I’ve been blessed to teach many classes recently for guilds and shows (I think I may have overbooked myself – but I loved every one!). I always ask students to send me photos of the projects they begin in class. Recently I’ve recieved some delightful pics, and they make my teacher’s heart sing!

This note and photo were emailed to me by a quilter in Rockford, IL. I was thrilled to see she’d won a blue ribbon for the piece she started in class. She didn’t however sign her email, and I don’t remember her name. So, if anyone recognizes her, please send her name in the comments below. Congrats dear quilter! Here’s her message:

“I took a class from you last year and entered my art quilt in the Sinnissippi Quilters Quilt Show in Rockford, Illinois.  I took first place in the art category.  Unfortunately it is overpowered by the quilt it is hanging behind.  I enjoyed the class and thinking outside the box.”

The next two emails were from students in my classes at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show (click here to read the post about that show). This one is from Tearle who took my “Where Do I Start With Fiber Art” class

“Hello Chris — Here is my finished quilt! It has changed a bit since the class. I added some lace, rick rack and buttons. These embellishments are from my grandmother Beulah’s sewing stash! She passed away over 20 years ago but she was an amazing seamstress! She made all of her own clothes, as well as mine, my mom’s and my aunt’s, not to mention sewing for others to make some extra money.  Beulah is a Biblical name…one of the meanings that I could find was: “A place or state of ideal happiness and union with God.” So, if I’m naming my first art quilt, it would be “Beulah–a new beginning,” to represent the new turn my quilting has taken. Thanks again, Chris! I am already starting to think about my NEXT art quilt!”

Tearle’s story is as lovely as her quilt.

Then I received an email from Bryan. He and his wife were in my Mariner’s Compass class in Indiana.

“At my local guilds stay at home quilt retreat.  Finished my compass block. Loved the class!”

Well done Bryan! And here are two more student successes. Karen took my compass class last year, and when I visited her guild a few weeks ago (at the same meeting in which Kathy showed me her squirrel quilt) she had it finished and on a jacket! Gorgeous!

When I taught my Seminole workshop for these ladies two days later, Deb brought in her compass from that same class. I love the colors!

I really enjoy seeing what happens to quilts that begin in a class. Thanks to all who shared ~ and made this week’s post so much fun!

Liz is a dear friend who’s also a quilter, and she sent me the following photo and email:

“I have a friend who will turn 100 this summer & her mom (!) found this quilt in the bottom of a trunk 80 years ago. Any chance you (or your readers) know any history about it?“

After receiving her email I did some image searching online and found 2 that were similar. This one dates from the 1930s and was called simply “red and white medallion quilt”. The seller was asking $199.

The other one is called “early 1860’s civil war era red and white appliqué quilt” with a price tag of $395.

What I think makes the quilt in Liz’s photo special is that it is a sampler quilt. Does anyone reading have any stories or information about this pattern? Please let us know.

Also, I recieved another email I’d like to share. In February Roxan read my post about the baby quilt I made for my cousin’s daughter in “A Last Minute Baby Quilt“. In it I stated that I couldn’t identify the maker of the floral fabric.

This is what she sent:

“Use your cellphone to take a picture of the fabric, quilt, historical monument, etc., and save it on your phone. Then open the picture, and when it pops up, select “Google Lens”.  You may have to search in your app where “Lens” is tuck away, (mine is by the ellipsis above the photo) but once you find it, click Google Lens, and it will start quickly searching to help you find the source. I think someone like you could make great use of a tool like this. For instance, I found your bright floral fabric listing it as, “Floral Burst Serious Whimsey” for sale by Flowers2Fabric.com, for $15/yd (or in 1/4 yard increments). Another site was sold out, but at least you now have a website/manufacturer to start researching. And it took literally 2 seconds.  Hope this helps! God Bless!”

Thanks for this helpful information Roxan. The good news is that before I could look it up, Ruth knew the name of the maker I was seeking, and responded to my post: The fabric designer is P Carter Carpin. I’m grateful to all you dear quilters for your helpful comments to my posts.

Then, after a post about quilt designs in a hotel carpet while in Bloomington, IN, my friend Margaret sent me this photo of the new carpet in a church she visited.

Wouldn’t that make an exciting quilt? It used to be that we could only find quilt design inspiration on floors in European cathedrals. Like this mosaic I photographed on a floor in the Vatican Museum.

Art is all around us if we’re looking. Thanks Margaret!

And one more thing… at a recent guild meeting I met Deb. She shared this lovely stain glass quilt ~ yes it’s made of fabric. She said she wanted to hang it in her kitchen, but was concerned about grease, etc. So she coated it with Mod Podge™. It made the quilting look great, and is easy to wipe clean.

I love sharing these clever ideas. I hope you enjoy them too.

Thanks for this helpful information Roxan. The good news is that before I could look it up, Ruth knew the name of the maker I was seeking, and responded to my post: The fabric designer is P Carter Carpin. I’m grateful to all you dear ladies for your helpful comments to my posts.