Baby Sister's Wall Art Quilts On Display

I know I've posted many times about my sister, her frame or quilt - fabric wall art, her pattern designs, and her Inspired Creations by D website. I can't help it. She's my baby sister and I'm just so PROUD of her and her creativity.

My sister sells her print patterns at a local sewing shop near her home called Sew Nice and has many of her finished frame or quilt - fabric wall art creations on display there.

Well, one of the things I wanted to do during my recent visit was see her wall art on display and take a few pictures. Well, maybe more than a few pictures!

So, one afternoon we visited and I took pictures. Hopefully she wasn't too embarrassed by this crazy lady taking pictures. However, I did find her hiding in the fabric stacks a few times. So, maybe she was a little embarrassed......

I thought her framed and unframed wall art quilts looked wonderful on the walls behind the checkout stand. They just stood out so beautifully against the blue colored walls of the sewing store.

Even the unframed wall art quilts looked great. I can understand why her quilt print patterns sell so well there. I were a customer and was looking up at her vibrant creations I'd certainly want to try making one and buy her patterns.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed By Debbie Bohringer.

More Fiber Crafting Adventures - The Alpaca Head Ornaments

One of the things my sister and I wanted to do during my recent visit was to continue with our needle felting and roving crafting adventure.

We began our needle felting and roving crafting adventures in October 2012 during my sister's visit. So, while I was visiting last week we decided to spend our evenings playing and having "fun" her alpacas roving.

I decided to create a holiday tree which I will be posting about at a later date.   My sister had learned how to create a three dimensional Santa ornament at a recent fiber show she was working at with a friend of hers.  It came out really nice so she thought she try her hand at creating alpaca head ornaments based upon her own alpacas' faces.

Being as adventuresome as always she decided to start with one of the most difficult alpaca  faces - Masquerade.  So, she worked on it and felted it until she got it just right.

Her ornament is pictured below and pictured with the picture of Masquerade that she used as a guide.  I think it looks just like him.

Of course, I thought it would be funny to take a picture or her needle felted alpaca head on top of the picture of his body, which is shown below.   I just LOVE that picture.

Then, she decided to try her hand at creating an alpaca head ornament for her alpaca Cosmo.  For awhile it looked like a bunnies head, but she kept felting it until she got the results she wanted.

It came out a little bigger than Masquerade's head, but I think it looks like Cosmo - Mr. Smoozer.

Of course, I had to take a picture of her Cosmo alpaca head ornament on his body.

Hopefully, my sister is going to create patterns for her alpaca heads so you can create some of your own and offer kits to make that even easier.  Their roving is just so wonderful to work with.

I LOVE the alpaca head ornaments.  They're just too adorable to resist - especially when they're pictured on  their alpaca bodies.  Wouldn't you agree?

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed By Debbie Bohringer.

My Visit To Rock Garden Alpacas

I know that I've mentioned many times before that my sister and her husband are the owners of Rock Garden Alpaca's. Well, last week I visited my sister and fell in love with my alpaca "nieces and nephews."

Twice a day my sister and I went down to tend the "kids." Each and every time "Ivy" would be waiting for us. She had a schedule, after all, and knew when we were late or early.

Usually in the afternoons we'd be greeted by the "kids." The "girls", shown in the picture above are from left to right Sunflower, Zinnia, and Ivy.

Sometimes when we were a little too early in the mornings we'd wake the kids up and they'd saunter out of the sheds with their eyes half opened. It was really funny to see - behaving just like tired children who were awoken too early. "Do we have to get up? Aw, Ma!"

Zinnia, who is Ivy's daughter, took a liking to me. I don't know if it was my smell or the fur around the hood of my coat, but she followed me around moving from one spot to another. She'd stand next to me and nuzzle the fur or try to push me. Then my sister would say, "Don't let her dominate you. Push her back."

So, I'd have to nudge her a little, if I could. Given she's as tall as me and probably weighs over 100 pounds that seemed easier said than done. But, I did it and she'd stop pushing - content to just let me stroke her long neck. She has such beautiful fur.

When she got comfortable she'd lay down right next to me and put her head between my feet or lay her head on the top of my shoes.

Shown above is how I saw Zinnia most of the time.

The "boys" Masquerade (picture on top) and Cosmo (picture on bottom) had their own shed and area separate from the "girls." You have to keep the males and females separate as the males have just one thing on their minds when it comes to the females. TYPICAL MALES! So, you keep them separate until you want them to breed.

Cosmo is the son of Sunflower (pictured above) and both have amazingly thick, beautiful white fur. I just love using their roving for my needle felted crafts. Fortunately for me I get a few bags for free. If you'd like to check out their roving my sister sells it at "Rock Garden Alpacas Fiber."

When it came to feeding them their grain both the "boys" and "girls" have their own "spot" and grain container and when my sister feeds them she points and says "You know where your spot is." Amazingly they go to their spot and wait. Sometimes they do misbehave and try to steal each other's grain. Then there's some fighting, biting, and sometimes spitting going on - which you don't want to be in the middle of.

I had told my sister that I wanted to get pictures of the "kids." She said, "You can try." I, of course thought it would be no big deal. They'd pose for me - right! Guess again. The "girls" had other things on their minds like grazing and feeding. And, Cosmo - well, he's a curious guy.

Cosmo just loved to smooze and kiss the camera.  I didn't mind.  How can you not LOVE a face like that?

And then there's beautiful Masquerade. I should probably tell him he's handsome. He is a male after all. He has the most beautiful face and eyes.

My sister named him Masquerade because he looks like he has a mask on his face with the white and dark colors. Every time I look at him I think of "The Phantom Of The Opera." Maybe it's because he's a little skid-dish. He wants to get close, but is always a little afraid. My sister says he thinks he's invisible - that if you look at him he's not there. Maybe he's hiding behind his mask.

But, Ivy did at least cooperate for two wonderful pictures.  She's the smallest alpaca of the group.  The guardian I think.  Every time we were down there she'd be talking away - that is, in alpaca speech.  I don't know what she was saying, but she'd talk the whole time we were down there.

Cosmo (pictured above) is such a smoozer and always whimpered a little when we were leaving. I think he loved the company.

He, too, would always nudge me and stick his nose in the fur on my hood. Given that he's a male - maybe he thought I'd be a good mate.

Hmmmm.... I hope not.

An Unbelievable Fabric Store

Jane and Allan Kirby, Proprietors

When I was visiting my sister last week one of her friends suggested we go shopping at a fabric store she had shopped at years before and had loved. Given the suggestion was for shopping for fabric my sister and I, of course, readily agreed. And, that was our mistake.

You see, her friend was suggesting that we go to The Fieldstone House in upstate New York. Well, The Fieldstone House is not like any other fabric store I've ever been in. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a fabric store like it before - EVER! Not even the old fabric mills I visited years before could compete with this.

When you drive up the driveway and park it just looks like an old house. However, the outside looks are very deceiving as this is no ordinary house.

My sister and I had barely gotten inside when we both said, "Oh, my god!" The first room was literally filled floor to ceiling with rows and rows of cotton fabric. And, I do mean FLOOR to CEILING.

As we walked from the 1st room to the 2nd, to the back and around the corner to yet another room tucked away all we could say was, "Oh, My God!" Then the proprietor told us there was another floor full of fabric upstairs. "Oh, My God!"

I literally couldn't believe how much fabric there was. Shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves of fabric. Fabric on the tops of the shelves, leaning against the shelves, tucked in here, tucked in there. There was so much fabric I did not know where to look first. The fabric and all the colors were intoxicating. I decided I must be in fabric heaven.

Of course, all the while my sister and I were going crazy my sister's friend was smiling. It was as she had remembered and she was pleased that we were delighted.  Delighted was an understatement.  We were like little kids in a candy store.

Since I love holiday fabrics I decided to start upstairs.  I picked bolt after bolt after bolt trying to coordinate all my colors.  Just when I thought I had the perfect combination of red, green, white, and gold I'd find another bolt that was every bit as complimentary to the bolts I'd already chosen.

I decided I had to stop and move along to the winter fabrics. Truth be told, the blue and white colors of the winter cotton fabrics had been calling me since I went upstairs. I couldn't resist them any longer.

My sister, of course, still hadn't made it out of the Batiks section. I should have known.  She just LOVES batiks for all her Inspired Creations by D fabric or wall art quilts. I began to wonder how we were ever going to get her out of the store.

I asked the proprietor if it was okay to lay my bolts down near the register and she said, "Of, course. Start a pile." So, I laid my holiday bolts down next to an enormous pile of Batiks - which, of course, turned out to be my sister's pile.

After quite some time of searching through the fabric I decided I had enough and went to check out. Of course, I had to wait a long time before it was time for my fabric to be cut as my sister and her enormous pile of Batiks was still being cut.

Standing next to my sister was her friend. I asked her where her pile was and she just held up a small bag filled with a tiny amount of fabric. I couldn't believe it. She had bought only what she needed for a project she was working on. No more no less. Such self control and restraint. I had to admire that. Compared to my sister and I she was a fabric shopping saint.

Of course, as we were standing at the register getting our fabrics cut she was subtly suggesting bolts that would look wonderful with our color selections. I tried to resist buying more - I just couldn't. I decided she wasn't a fabric saint - she was the fabric devil. Of course, I couldn't resist her suggestions - they were perfect for the fabric I had bought.

We walked out of the fabric store laughing and carrying our fabric treasures. We were off to have lunch and reflect on our amazing fabric adventure. It was a wonderful and delightful fabric shopping experience and I have to thank my sister's friend and The Fieldstone House for that.

What A View!

I've been blogging since 2004 so I think it would be fair to say that I love it. It's something that seems to come naturally to me. Sit, think, and write.

And, it's fair to say that I don't usually find myself in a position where I don't have something to say. In fact, I could probably be accused of having blogorrhea - too much to say.

Well, last week I was speechless.  As I sat down at my sister's dining room table I found that I had nothing to say- I couldn't blog. My mind was a blank. I was too distracted. YIKES!!!

What was going on? All I wanted to do was stare out her dining room window.

How can you blog when you're looking at a view like in the pictures above or below? I was mesmerized by the view. No wonder I couldn't blog. I was too distracted.

Last week I paid a visit to my sister and her Rock Garden Alpacas farm in upstate New York and absolutely loved it. The views were amazing, my alpaca "nieces and nephews" were irresistible, and the people I met were so friendly, so inviting. I had a wonderful time.

My sister and I spent several days laughing, shopping, eating, crafting, tending to the "kids" and working on her websites. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of shopping (she's a very bad influence on me! LOL), and a lot of eating. Hopefully, I didn't gain too much weight.

Actually to be fair I can be an out of control shopper all by myself so when her friend told her about The Fieldstone House and the fabric there she was all ears. And, when she told me about the fabric there - well, all you have to do is mention fabric to me and I'm game.

So, my sister and I and her friend paid a visit to The Fieldstone House. That was such an amazing experience it deserves it's own blog post. Fair to say my sister and I were very, very bad there.

Twice a day my sister and I had to walk down the hill to tend to her alpaca "kids." With such a view it's amazing I ever made it down to the "kids."

But, as always, Ivy was waiting so I couldn't get too distracted. She had her schedule and expected us to be on time. Sometimes we were a little early and sometimes a little late. Both times she'd give us a look of disapproval - like a mother scolding her kids.

Of course, after tending to the "kids" I got to go back to blogging in her dining room. Or, trying to blog in her dining room.

I decided it was impossible to do. I finally gave up. How can you blog with such a view?

To All The Veterans - Thank You

This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

Elmer Davis

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Freedom is never free.”
–Author Unknown

Thank-you to all who served and to all who made the ultimate sacrifice. We will never forget you.

Gotta Love Festive Holiday and Seasonal Fabric Wreaths

Who doesn't love festive holiday and seasonal wreaths - especially when they're made of fabric.  Certainly not I !

Winter Fabric Wreath 

#DI100ALWOD Winter Fabric Wreath - 12" Handmade Country Seasonal Winter Wreath Decoration 

Wonderful 12" fabric winter decoration wreath with two hand-painted wooden snowflakes,  two hand-painted wooden snowmen,  and hand-painted and stenciled welcome plaque with stenciled hearts.  All ready to be hung with your winter home decor.  Makes a wonderful decoration for the winter season. 

Handmade by Linda Walsh 

Christmas Fabric Wreath

#DI100BLWOD Christmas Fabric Wreath - 12" Handmade Country Holiday Wreath Decoration in Festive Red and Green Christmas Colors 

Festive 12"  wreath in beautiful red and green Christmas fabrics with hand-painted wooden welcome plaque and large red-plaid wired ribbon bow. All ready to be hung with your Christmas holiday season home decor. 

Handmade by Linda Walsh 

 Christmas Fabric Wreath 

#DI100CLWOD   Christmas Fabric Wreath - 12" Handmade Country Holiday Wreath Decoration in Festive White, Red and Green Christmas Colors 

Festive 12"  wreath in beautiful white, red and green Christmas fabrics with hand-painted wooden welcome plaque with Christmas stencil decorations and large red wired ribbon bow. All ready to be hung with your Christmas holiday season home decor. 

Handmade by Linda Walsh 

Christmas Gingerbread Fabric Wreath 

#DI100DLWOD Christmas Fabric Wreath - 12" Handmade Country Holiday Wreath Decoration in Festive White, Red and Green Christmas Colors 

Festive 12"  wreath in beautiful gingerbread and teal green Christmas fabrics with hand-painted wooden welcome plaque with Christmas stencil decorations and large blue wired ribbon bow. All ready to be hung with your Christmas holiday season home decor. 

Handmade by Linda Walsh