Heidi Kaisand
My goal everyday is to be creative--whether it's quilting, scrapbooking or simply living life.Sign up for Newsletter Now!
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Pretty Package
With a pair of scissors I carefully opened the envelope, wanting to save this piece of art. Inside, two pieces of cardboard carefully wrapped something about 8 inches square. I snipped the tape and opened the package...and quickly melted to tears. It was our precious children in our Christmas card from 2009, now forever preserved on a scrapbook page. The personal note on the back made it even more touching and something that I will treasure forever. Thank you dear friend.
Remember to visit my August 28 post --leave a comment and have a chance to win a prize.
Location, Location, Love!
Planning a wedding can be an overwhelming task, but I've come to the conclusion this summer if the location is spectaluar and the little details done just right, that a simple wedding is the best. In June our friends Cassandra and Phillip got married outdoors on a horse farm.
The bride's entrance was fairy tale.
The flowers were bright, but simple.
Their reception was a good bbq in the barn (cleanist barn you've ever seen, too)!
Well, yesterday, we attended a wedding reception for Liz and Nathan in another spectacular location--the third floor outdoor balcony of the State Historical Building. What an amazing few of the state capital and all of downtown Des Moines.
The food was delicious and I just love the color of this fruit centerpiece.
The bride's mother, Maureen, is creative and I think this idea tops the list of clever ideas! The window ledge was filled with wedding pictures of family members, sprinkled amongst the flowers in bud bowls and wine bottles. Just wonderful.
Then there was dessert. Each table had a pie stand (handmade by the groom) and after dinner either a carmel apple pie (see photo below--oh, that's right we ate it all), a cheesecake, a chocolate torte, an upside down pineapple cake or Key Lime pie was placed in the center. Didn't like what your table had? Or you wanted more? Not a problem, mingling amonst the guests and tables was highly encouraged.
Can't talk about a wedding without mentioning the bridesmaids dresses. Just another example of simple details that are perfect. I thought the color of the dress and men's suites were unexpected and so classy.
Could there be anything more romantic than a sun setting behind the new couple as they dance their first dance? Good luck and best wishes for many wonderful years ahead of you.
Remember--visit my August 28 blog entry and leave a
comment to be eligible for some blog anniversary prizes.
Chicken or Egg?
For some projects it takes both kinds of inspiration to create a winning quilt. My recent search for finding the right fabric and the right pattern has all come together and I must share where I'm going with it! I started this project with the end quilt in mind--something that can be auctioned off at the annual meeting for the AASV organization. (That's American Association of Swine Veterinarians--my husband is a member!) I was thrilled to be involved in the 2010 auction and honored to have been invited to participate in 2011.
Immediately out of the gate I'm perplexed with the whole chicken and egg thing. I think the final quilt needs to have pigs incorporated into the project--but are the pigs pieced or appliqued or am I using a fabric with a pig motif. Then there is my issue with cartoon pigs. Ok, Olivia is cute but does a grown man want to bid on a quilt that would probably appeal more to a child? So, if the fabric has a pig motif, I want classy pigs, not silly pigs. If I'm going to make a quilt I want people to use it. It's got to have purpose. Since most people think of putting quilts on beds or using them to cuddle under while watching TV, then I'm thinking big. Or it could be a wall hanging to hang in their vet office. In either scenario, the finished design must be something I can accomplish fairly quickly (there is an entry deadline), and livable. Yes, it must be something people won't just throw in a closet and never look at it again. And, how can we miss that this particular quilt needs to be auctioned off and bring in lots of money for a good cause.
So the work begins. First, a trip to my local quilt shop. Nothing.
An e-mail to a few friends that are quilt shop owners. Nothing.
Then a late night search on the Internet. Found it. Well, sort of. It took several more times of researching on the Internet, but I found the perfect fabric. It's called Urban Farm by Keri Beyer for In the Beginning Fabrics. Unfortunately it was printed in 2008 so I had to find multiple sources to see the pieces in the fabric collection. I was starting to formulate ideas of what the pattern would be, but without seeing the fabrics in person I wasn't completely sure. So, I ordered what I thought was appropriate with a few extra pieces--just in case.
Urban Farm by Keri Beyer
Once I had the fabrics in hand, the pencil and graph paper got pulled out and I found the traditional Weathervane block to be my inspiration because of the motifs in the fabric.
Auditioning the fabric is the next stage and this takes me several days. My ironing board sits in front of a window, so I have great natural light in my sewing room. I stack the fabrics up, look at them, leave them, and come back when it's dark. Then I move fabrics around and repeat until I'm satisfied. I had to make one more trip to the quilt shop to get the final piece for the designing puzzle. That's when I get that giddy feeling and I can't wait to start cutting.
There's always a pile of rejects. But I just put them back in the stash for the next project. There's always a next project!
EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Today marks the third anniversary of hosting my blog. To celebrate I'm going to give away three sets of three Hen and Chicks Quilt Studio patterns for the next three weeks.
What will you win? Patterns for re-creating Reflections in the Pond , Sunrise Blossom , Candy Dish.
How do you win? Add a comment to today's blog--I would love to hear whether you start with the chicken or the egg.
How will you know who wins? I'll draw three winners on Friday night and post the winners next Saturday.
If I don't win this week, then what?
Not to worry, you'll have nine chances total to win. We'll do it all over again two more times.
KISS Please
On Sunday nights we like to watch Living the Country Life on RFD-TV. This show is produced by my former employeer Meredith Corporation so many of the faces on the show are familiar. One segment that I have enjoyed showcases cookbook author Linda Burgett and her SIMPLE meals. Several times I thought to myself I need to find her cookbooks. Much to my surprise last Saturday while at the Iowa State Fair I found her in the Elwell Food Center selling them. Needless to say it was fun to meet her in person and I bought both of her cookbooks. I love using the crockpot and the fewer ingredients I need the better.
I've been reading the cookbooks like a good story book...hmmm...what to fix for supper tonight? I bet I can find something super simple!
Fair Highlights
Sara of Jones county cleverly used photos and colors to create this wall plaque. I haven't stopped thinking about it since seeing it and have been trying to figure out how to recreate using my digital software and pictures.
We rode the sky glider from the west side of the fair grounds over to the middle near Pella Plaza, with a perfect view of the John Deere display.
The sky glide also gave me a great view of the numerous food stands. How many things are on a stick you ask? Click here for the list .
The free entertainment around the fairgrounds is sure to entertain all. Henry wanted to see Shenani-guns Wild West Comdey Show . It was a good laugh for all ages.
A highlight for us every year is to attend the Sale of Champions . It is so exciting to see these young men and woman getting rewarded for their hard work. Each year there is something that just touches my heart--this year it was this young man proudly showing his Grand Champion 4-H Market Lamb and his little sister waiting to help hold his lamb while he presented his banner to the buyer. She was so proud and excited to be a part of this. And I thought he handled his moment in the spotlight (with his sister) with maturity.
My personal highlight for the 2010 fair was to help with the quilt contest. If you missed the review on Iowa Public Television, be sure to check out this link . The 2010 fair comes to an end today, but tomorrow we'll start counting the days until the 2011 fair.
Working It!
My 4-H pride was beaming last Saturday as the kids participated in cousin Stephanie's working demonstration at the Iowa State Fair. That's Stephanie, the tall young lady! She's telling Henry all about the bob sled event. Henry loved this entire demonstration and went through the line several times in the 45 minutes they were doing it. Kudos to the club for coming up with such a great idea.
The kids kept busy with a steady line of Olympians.
Each participant was presented with a gold medal and a tootsie roll. What could have been better.
Matthew (Stephanie's younger brother) and Henry displaying their medals.
There were half a dozen working demonstrations going on at the same time, so we visited most of them. The girls got into making "bling" and chalk, and pinwheels below to learn more about wind energy.
Virginia and Goldie making pinwheels.
Henry decorated a paper cone to make a "crazy cone" game!
Here's Stephanie with her quilt-covered ottoman that got to go to the State Fair. She's going to be leading the next generation of our family down the creative path! Go Steph! I'm so proud of you to undertake such a big project and to do so well at it.
An Awesome Addition to the Fair
Here are just a few of the Iowa counties and their blocks.
The exterior of the building.
What a colorful way to wrap the building in quilt blocks!
Beauty in the Middle of Chaos
The 2010 Iowa State Fair is well underway! This 11-day annual event is a highlight in our summer outings. One of the many things we like to do is let the kids run through the tunnel in the middle of the gardens outside the Ag building. While the kids were running round-and-round, I was taking in all of the beautiful flowers. Then I saw the butterfly, above. Can you imagine his delight in finding this sea of nectar? He flittered from blossom to blossom as if he'd found gold. And for a moment I was so focused on this awesome site that I didn't even hear the thousands of people around me and all of the usual noises of the fair.
Progress Report
Making my first king-size quilt has proven to take longer than I had hoped! I made great progress earlier this spring on this project, but came to a halt in July with too many other summer activities going on. But on Sunday I found my self with a deep need to sew. It's funny how I need that "fix" at the sewing machine. Although it was awesome to move forward on the quilt...note one section above...the best part was that the girls were in the sewing room with me. They cut, glued, colored. I gave them empty boxes, leftover batting, paper cups. They made crowns, coffee cups and pretty boxes. It was fun to watch them work together and alone on their projects.
