Button, button, whose got the button, I do!!

In September Madame Samm with Shellys Buttons and More had a promotion to purchase buttons.

I was the lucky winner!

As soon as it was confirmed I immediately with to Shellys Buttons and More and shopped to my hearts content! It was wonderful.   I had so much fun picking and choosing. They arrived within a matter of days.

Look at these!  There are theme buttons, packages with only one color buttons, packages with multi-colored buttons, and ones with big and small buttons, I mean who could ask for more.

I got the great glue the Mdm Samm recommended. So I can make my own cute buttons pins.

I was trying to think ahead to what sort of projects I may be doing that I could use these cool buttons on.

There are orange, pink, green, purple and red. 

There are flowers, hearts, Christmas, and carrot noses.

How about, sewing, hippie chic, Halloween, and Chunky Buttons.

Let's just say, I got a lot of buttons!  I think I am prepared for anything.
I am one button lucky lady! Oh, how I love buttons.
Have a great button kind of day!
Mary

Wicked Day at the Hop!

You are invited to a wonderfully wicked  Brew Party.

For your dining pleasure I have ghostly and witchy chocolates. Worms from my freshly turned graves and ghosts have come flying from the grave yard. My witches brew has been boiling and bubbling for days, being kept warm under its own pumpkin cover.  The pumpkin right from the field has pinie creatures floating from its top. Dirt cupcakes have been baked with my best bug and dirt ingredients and topped with skeletons.
So park your broom, hang your hat, and come sit a spell.
We can have a charming conversation and compare our traveling adventures.

Here for your viewing pleasure is my tiered pumpkins.  I had purchased a small bag of orange scraps a couple of years ago, and thought they would look good as these scrapy pumpkins.  I appliqued wool for their faces

I finished this twister wall hanging.  I have been wanting to add this pumpkin vine, so that I have a new fall decoration. I hope you like my wicked fun, Madame Samm's adorable pincushion and tea cozy, and pumpkin wall hanging.  They were wickedly delightful to make.

Grandmama's Stories

Gracie Oliver Arts

Quilts by Christa

Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Ravelly’s

Pink's Sweet Treats

How Art You?

Georgia-Girl Quilter

I Piece 2-Mary

Words & Stitches

The Distracted Domestic 

Thank you Wicked Wendy and Madame Samm for another wickedly hop.

Hop on your brooms and fly to each of my wicked partners.

I made the newspaper!

Good evening, I just found out that there is a little story about one of the blogs I maintain.

Feathers, Fur and Flowers is a blog I started earlier this year about the birds I see, the animals we sometimes see in our travels, and photos of flowers I have taken.  It gives me a chance to work on my photography skills, as well as identify, especially, birds I see.  I have started my bird list.

This is a hawk I saw today, now to identify him.  He was big.  I was able to get several pictures.

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/lifestyles/23310393-423/blog-log-mary-winegar-feathers-fur-and-flowers.html

I have had a cold, and am finally feeling better.  

I am working on my "wickedly" fun project for the hop that is going on this week, with Wendy at 

Why-Knot-Kwilt, and Mdm Samm at Sew We Quilt.

So far from what I have seen everyone is having a "Wickedly" good time.

I will be sharing my pumpkins on Monday.

Halloween is just around the corner!!

Mary

Eileen Daniels, At guild this evening.

The theme of tonight's lecture by Eileen Daniels, of Brodhead, Wisconsin, was "Using Orphan Blocks".

It was interesting how she used orphan blocks in different ways.

This first is pieces of "fan" blocks sewn together to create the circle. She had quilted, washed and dried the background fabric, before adding the newly created circle.  The circle of vintage fabric is added, then a doily and buttons. By making the background first, you have more of the antique look of a quilt.

This one shows more detail and how you can use he vintage dresden blades.

Notice the zipper used as the stem of the flower and leaves.

This is an orphan block made into a clock.

How about using dresden circles, making them into skirts for your Barbie doll.

The flowers on this quilt are made from hankies.  The hankies have a stabilizer on the back to help with getting crisp folds.

This is a bed runner, made using the Dolly Dingle fabric and having detachable skirts made of hankies. She made the bed runner for her 4 year old granddaughter.  She loves to move the skirts around.

This wall hanging Eileen made using orphan butterfly blocks and embellished with earrings.  

Here is a closer look. Fancy buttons and earrings are in the flower centers.

This quilt is made of men's ties. She used the ties in the border as pieces of a crazy quilt.  They have fancy machine stitches on the seams.

She gave us a lot of tips and sources for embellishments.  It was interesting how she re-purposed, recycled vintage embroidered pieces, orphan quilt blocks, zippers, buttons, pillowcases.  She made tote bags, purses, pillows, aprons, Barbie clothes, and wall hangings to name a few. She also created framed works of memory keepsakes.
Most all of us have orphan blocks we can re-purpose into works of art.
Creativity at work!
Have a great sewing day.
Mary

Madison and beyond

We started our morning by visiting 2 apple orchards on the outskirts of Madison, heading east. This day I have really blown my photography chances.  I forgot to take pictures!  We arrived at the first apple orchard to find that  they would not be open until 10:00.  What is a senior citizen, who gets up early, to do.  We headed to the next one.  It did not open until 11:00.  We were not far from Stoughton, Wis. so on we went.

Low and behold, there was a quilt shop, Saving Thyme, but it too, did not open until 10:00.  Well, we were closer to 10 but still had a bit of time to kill.  Ron had found out that there was a bakery in town, so off we went to find it.  It is  the best bakery we have ever found.  Fosdal Home Bakery is to die for.  We picked out the most luscious donuts, brownies and cookies!  They did not skimp on filling or icing on anything.
By the time we were done picking out our goodies, the quilt shop was open. While Ron got gas I got the chance to browse for a few minutes.

On our way back to the orchards, he was not be be denied his apples and cider, I spotted a couple of sandhill cranes.  

We then headed on to Milton, Wisconsin, to check out Loose Threads Quilt Shoppe.  It even had a couple of barn quilts. While I was inside looking around, Ron had picked up a guide for Rock County, not far from where we were. He found there was a Barn Quilt Trail with approximately 162 quilts. As we had no special plans on how were were going go home, we decided to check out a few of them.

This one touched my heart.  It is called "In Memory of Dad" and is outside of Milton. Instead of one block, it was a whole quilt.  It is a beautiful tribute.

Found a few chickens!

We came across this cute quilt store in Clinton.  This was a "did not know about" one.

What a neat quilt I found there. We did get to visit about 20 barn quilts on our way back to Illinois. I am going to post pictures of the barn quilts on my other blog Mary's Barn Quilts.
Again, we had a beautiful day, and again, no color!
We have heard there is color further up north, just not around us yet.  I guess this is another reason to go on a road trip later.

On the Mississippi in Dubuque, Iowa

On Day 2 of our Fall adventure, we took a sail on the Spirit of Dubuque.  It left its slip at 10:00 am for a 4 hour cruise and lunch on the Mississippi.  We had a full boat.  Again, we had a gorgeous day, little cool in the morning but still bright and beautiful.

Our ship for the tour.

Sorry, I can't remember this lookout.  It is not far from when the harbor.  What a view this would be.

Cormorants along the Mississippi.

We met another paddle wheeler.  It is the newest, only a year old.  The Queen of the Mississippi  This is one you can stay on and travel for several days up and down the river.

You never know what you will find along the river. This table and chairs was set up down by the river to watch the traffic.

Another paddle wheeler.

I kept hoping to see some white pelicans in migration, but all I got was seagulls.

Did see an eagle enjoying lunch.

The barges are waiting to be filled.  You can tell that the ones on the left are full and ready to go, where the ones on right are ready and waiting.

One our way back to the harbor. at about noon time we were all called down to the dining room for a buffet lunch.  We had coleslaw, mashed potatoes, chicken breast and ham, and green beans for lunch.  It was great. The views and sights along the Mississippi was beautiful.  But, no fall colors!

The Town Clock in downtown Dubuque.

On our way out of town, found this cute little quilt shop. This was an unplanned stop.

We stopped in Schullsburg,Wisconsin, to get cheese!  Wisconsin is known for its wonderful, award winning cheese.

On our way to Madison, Wisconsin where we were going to stay the night we came upon this structure.  It is called "Grandview" and is just outside Hollendale, Wisconsin.  This is one building on the grounds.

It started out by Nick Engelbert constructing an arched porch on his house made of concrete with shards of china, glass, beads, buttons and sea shells.  Over several years he continued to build various structures using the same elements.  It is open to the public, free of charge, and is maintained by a local organization.

Here is the peacock and eagle.  It sure did look interesting. You just never know what you will find along the highways and byways.  We had another gorgeous day.  We were on our way to Madison to stay the night.

Amana Colonies, Iowa

Last week, my husband, surprised me with a little
"fall" road trip.  He was in the hopes of seeing some fall color, as our trees are still very green.

It is hot some days, warm others. We have not had a frost yet.  My annual flowers, although not looking great, have not died because of the cold.

He had mapped out a 3 day, 2 night adventure for us.

The Amana Colonies was a first stop.  My first thought was that this is an Amish community.  We were soon reading about how the colonies were formed by German communal system, The Inspirationists.

Christian Metz and three followers traveled to America in 1842 and purchased 5,000. acres of land near Buffalo, New York. When more farmland was needed for the growing community, leaders looked to the west to purchase more farmland. They found what they were looking for in Iowa. Metz and his followers came to Iowa and build a village. A communal village was established, Amana.  The community eventually owned 26,000 acres of land and 6 more villages were built. 

Farming was the main means of support. Eventually a calico works, woolen mills craft shops, flour mills and several lumber and brick yards were built to help the economy of the communal life of the seven villages.

Our first stop was at the "Fern Hill" gifts and quilts, in South Amana. There was one of the largest selection of batik fabric I have ever seen. It has quilts made by local residents, antiques, and a Coffee Room, featuring desserts, candies, ice cream and coffee and tea.  It was a cute shop.

We past Lily Lake, which at this time of year has the remnants of the beautiful yellow lily they are famous for. It reminded me of the Lotus blossoms.  They are in bloom in August.

In Amana, there is all sorts of shopping.

The Amana Woolen Mill.  This is said to be the only woolen mill in Iowa and is still making blankets.

The visitors center is the gray building on the right.  It is modern inside, but has been built in the German style seen through the area. Oh, one fun fact. This is were "Amana" appliances were made.  Now the operation is owned by "Whirlpool".

Heritage Designs Quilting and Needlework, Amana.  It was recognized in 2009 as a Top 10 Quilt Shop  by Quilt Sampler Magazine.  They are housed in a 1895 renovated granary. Quite impressive.

At the Lehm Books and Gifts, these smaller barn quilt blocks made quite a display.  Quilt blocks were featured through out the store.

A lot of the structures in town have these fences attached to the homes and buildings. Ron, seemed to think it was for growing hops. I liked the idea of flowering vines.

As we left town heading north, we passed the largest herd of cattle I have ever seen.  The fields are being harvested, and the cattle are left to roam and feed.

The scenery in this part of Iowa is beautiful.  Gently rolling hills and valleys.

Everything is neat and tidy.

Even old barns look neat. I would like to visit the colonies again in the Spring of the year.
It was a beautiful day. (Not much color.)  We stayed in Maquoketa, Iowa for the night.
Another fun adventure was scheduled for the next day.

Mary