Extra Flowers and Butterflies

Shopping for tone-on-tone floral fabrics was immensely fun, but as usual, I was torn between the colors! How do you walk away with just two colors? Each bolt was so vivid and gorgeously printed.  Decision was impossible, so, along with the vivid red and blue, I came home to the cutting board with delightful cottons in green, yellow, pink, and violet.

Assembly line sewing was very easy for this block. I made a continual chain of sewn pieces, then cut them apart to press, making a new pile to connect the next pieces. Each step created a new pile, making the whole process simple and organized.

Within just a few hours, my cutting board held 44 blocks totally finished, pressed, and set aside. My red and blues were finished.

Next, I made 44 more green &violet blocks just for fun. They are vivid tones with smaller floral prints.  I'm not sure where I'll use my extra colors, but maybe I'll have enough blocks for some extra room decor to match the Butterfly Garden quilt when it is finished. I'm considering making some pillowcase sets that include quilted borders, some shams, or even some throw pillows.

I've decided to leave the pink and yellow fabrics as optional colors to add if I need more blocks for shading and finishing the landscape of my dream garden plans.

For the "landscape" of my garden, I'm dreaming of bunched shades of color. I want to create a natural display in a progressive rainbow as I would find in my actual flower garden. Hopefully, this garden will all be fenced in with a white tone on tone picket blocks trimmed with tone on tone green symbolizing grass. I've tried to draw my idea of a block design on graph paper. Now I'm assembling one sample block before I decide if I like the look surrounding my garden. My final step hopes to be a soft blue binding representing a summer sky.

Cultivating My Dream Butterfly Garden

As the birds singing fills the air, the smells of Spring rift toward my nostrils, and the breeze becomes warmer, my garden plants are sprouting through the soil and the buds are bursting into bright colors!

From the open window, my sewing machine can be heard joyfully buzzes through straight quarter inch seams as 7.5" squares are assembled in my cheerful hobby room.


Half of the 4" squares of tone on tone have been cornered with 3 inch squares of black on white,  or white on black. These smaller squares were pressed diagonally in half, and then sewn across a corner of the 4" colored squares. I stitched the diagonal, then stitched 1/4" from that seam. I cut between the two seams, leaving excess triangles in one pile and new 4" squares to press open and connect to another 4" unchanged floral. The change of one corner made one side of the butterfly wings.

The block swap organizer requested the favor of sending these excess triangles along with our blocks. She has high hopes of a "traveling project" with these little triangles. I imagined all sorts of projects, so it will be fun to see the purpose she decided for these.

My assembled 7.5 blocks give the appearance of fluttering butterfly wings among the flowers. All 44 gorgeous blocks have been assembled, pressed, packaged, and ready to migrate to the big Garden Butterflies Swap.


While waiting for warmer weather to return a variety of floral tones to my home, my sewing skills will be challenged with plans to construct the picket fence, trimmed with grassy green border to encompass my new Garden of Butterflies in full bloom.

"Dreams of a Garden"

I love the smells and sights of Spring and dreams of warm Summer days!

I was recently inspired to make Butterfly blocks for SWAP in a group on MSQC forum. These swaps cause extraordinary visions of finished projects to pop into my head!

So, I shop with great care for my dreamy choice fabric and purchase enough to make not only the swap blocks, but the envisioned quilt!


I've titled this new vision "Dreams of a Garden". 

I'm using tone-on-tone floral prints. 

I chose two vivid prints of red daisies and cloudy blue violets. 

My butterflies will center each block using alternate black on white and white on black fabrics.

Today will be spent at the cutting table, making a variety of squares to be pieced together to complete 7.5  inch blocks. I'm told the blocks are easily assembled, so I may even get time to spend at my sewing machine. 

The swap promises 22 other colored blocks to add, if I choose, but I won't see those until later in April. I may end up with two quilts, or one huge garden!

For the big finish, I also purchased tone-on-tone striped greens and tone-on-tone whites for the border. I know the green will give the impression of grass borders and I'm hoping with the white, I can create a picket fence for my garden.

Looking for a Good Novel?

Here's one my daughter just read. I think some of you might like to find this author.

Our families are avid readers, and for years have held the novels by Francine Rivers in high esteem. Here is a new book that has been mentioned many times in our conversations while I'm here visiting my family.
Now, I see my daughter put a review on her blog.
I think this author's work will be put up on our favorite shelf next to Francine Rivers!

Anyway, I'll be checking it out, and thought some of you might be looking for a good book, so please click on this link to find her review:
 http://mommynificent.com

What was that Word again?

For me, visiting my precious family, means traveling to an island where everyone is speaking a foreign language around me. For this visit, I'm hearing mostly Bahasa Malayu. I've always loved languages, and while I'm here visiting, I would love to pick up a few simple phrases, at least.

So, on this visit I have opportunity to accompany my grand daughters to their Bahasa Malayu classes. It is the very basic elementary listening class, as vocabulary is introduced to the beginner. Using objects and pictures, the instructor says the word in Bahasa Malayu and the children point to the correct objects. She patiently repeats the words over and over, hoping to increase their listening skills as they recall words she has taught previously.

used by permission: 

I sit in the back of the room, and have a notebook of pictures. I watch her pronounce the words, then carefully watch what the little ones point to as they recognize the word she has said. This past lesson she took vocabulary and added phases to them, giving direction of what to do with the items to which they pointed.
Being a visual learner, it is also helpful for me to see the word written out, so my daughter writes out the vocabulary for me.

These photos are borrowed from the family's web page Living in Penang showing one class time. This site gives more details about the class and how my family found it. Please click the link to learn about this beautiful island and some of its interesting features. The web traffic would encourage my family and you'll read about some new adventures of every day life here on the island.
The creation of Living in Penang has hopes of making a more meaningful stay on this wonderful island for tourists, visitors, ex-pats, and just visitors, like me.

So, while I'm basking in tropical sunshine, curl up with your cup of tea and let your curiosity read a little bit about an island in the Archipelago!

Surprises for the Little Ones...

OK...I am with my family on the most beautiful tropical island! The breezes from the Indian Ocean cool the home while the dense foliage of a rain forest behind the house soaks in the sunshine of another day. The temperatures right now range from 70-90, and sitting in the shade, I enjoy all the beauty of blues and greens in God's creation.

As soon as I walked out the airport doors, with luggage and visa in hand, I heard familiar voices guessing if they would find me quickly or have to wait. I called out and 3 jubilant little girls ran toward me with the best hugs ever! After a long 37 hours, I was once again with loved ones!

The city was bustling around me, but I could only concentrate on the chatter that filled the mini van. The girls' anticipation of my arrival stored up all sorts of things they had to tell me and show me! I tried to exclaim over every little story, while trying to take in my surroundings, but have to admit that days without sleep and the warmth of the sun also was claiming my tired head. To overcome jet lag, I hoped to stay awake the entire day and only let sleep overtake me 12 hours later, when the island's darkness would envelope my surroundings.

I unpacked my suitcases with 3 bouncing, enthusiastic girls sitting on my bed. They were very curious over what I would pull out, and what surprises I brought from the states.

In a past post, I mentioned some homemade surprises, so let me show them to you now.

 First, I made each of the girls a Teddy Bear Place Mat for their dining table. Each bear held a yellow napkin, matching the linen napkin set I made for their mom, and wore a different bow.

They immediately placed these bear faces at their dinner places, and enjoyed them for several meals before they needed to be laundered.
These were a great hit.

Next, the littlest one received a plastic bag of finger puppet animals. I found these awesome animal felt prints and just had to make something cute with them.
There are giraffes, tigers, cows, monkeys, pigs, hippos, zebras, and lions.
More than enough for her fingers, or to share with others who want to join her in play.
I made the background on blue flannel, placing an ark with a deep pocket to hold all the animals.
They can also stick anywhere on the flannel to entertain our littlest one as she pretends they are swimming, flying, or being collected for the pocket. She loves walking around with all her fingers carrying the assortment.
The finished background rolls very small and be tied tightly, keeping the animals snugly tucked in the ark. So, for the littlest one and her friends, I hope these finger puppets fill many hours of play, and maybe some acting out this story by the older ones, giving them some enjoyment, too.

The 2 older girls tried on all the finger puppets, and loved the idea of a Noah's Ark Roll-Up, but their anticipation of what other cool things Grandma could pull out of her big suitcase made them struggle to settle on just playing with littlest one.
So, I pulled out 2 home-made NOTION KEEPERS which I had filled with sewing tools. We often talked on Skype of how much fun it would be to sew together, so I tried to think of age-aware projects these keepers could hold. I filled the pockets with the beginnings of a project and the tools they might need. For one, I chose things made with purple, and for the other, I chose pink tools.
As soon as the treasures of each pocket were found, the projects needed to be started immediately. A sigh escaped each girl when their mom reminded them that the long flight had probably made Grandma a little tired.
Reluctantly, the projects were tucked back in their pockets for an hour or two so that I could get my bearings and unpack my clothes.

OH! I am so very busy with the coolest little projects, but I can't post any photos just yet because I'm making them as gift surprises to pack away in my suitcase for the upcoming trip to Southeast Asia!

I'm so excited as the departure day approaches! I'm just crazy about the 3 little girls waiting for my arrival and I cannot wait to wrap my arms around my beloved older daughter!

Of course, before I arrive, I have some drastically long days of flights!

So, until I land on a tropical island and unpack my suitcases, I'll just have to leave you on edge for what I've completed this month!