Doll Quilt Club

The doll quilt club I ran this past summer through  fall is now over. The last pattern was sent out last week. I hope you enjoyed this little adventure and had fun quilting along with me. I thought all the quilts turned out very cute if I say so myself.

I had decided to retire the patterns after the club was finished but since there was some renewed interest from those who missed it I decided to run it again. So, beginning in January 2017 I will make the patterns available for awhile longer and those of you who missed it the first time round can join in 2017.

Note: these are the same patterns from the Papa's Shirts and Mama's Dresses Doll Quilt Club that began  last July and ran through November, so if you joined my club this past year, you already have them. (Look under the piles of fabric on your sewing table.)

See more details and ordering info at my website - Country Lane Quilts.  After this second run of the club ends next May, I will retire these patterns and perhaps bring them back as individual patterns sometime in the future.

Clubs are always a lot of fun. With mine, you receive a pattern in the mail every month for several months. A nice surprise in your mailbox on a regular basis. Some of you may remember that I started my first doll quilt club - The American Schoolgirl Club - a few years ago. I would not be surprised if some of you have these patterns that still need to be made, LOL. Those of you who are "newish" fans of mine and  small quilts  - if you missed that older club you can find those individual patterns listed as booklets for sale on the Pattern page.

Recently, there was some interest in a pattern I designed for the first club called Sisters Signature Quilt after Marian showed the one she made and posted in my Facebook group -

                                               

Didn't Marian's quilt turn out sweet? You'll be happy to know I revived that pattern and it too is now available again on my website and/or Etsy shop. Marian added sashing to hers and used 6 blocks (instead of nine as in the original pattern) signed with the names of some of her friends.

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With Thanksgiving coming up this week I know I'm going to be very busy with family and cooking and cleaning. How about you? If you're entertaining, you may want to take a look at one of my previous blog posts where I listed a bunch of my favorite holiday appetizers. I'm going to make a few of them again this year (and probably more this time, especially the wrapped apple slices) because they always go over very well. 

Here's my favorite recipe for a delicious Cranberry Cream Cheese Trifle. It's a holiday standard at my house for Christmas and Thanksgiving. I use walnuts instead of pecans and don't mix them into the cheese mixture as in the recipe - I just layer them on top because there's always someone who doesn't like nuts in my family (hard to believe -  don't we all have nuts in our families??) Looking forward to cooking and eating and spending time with my favorite nutty relatives. 

Prairie Style

Last weekend we took a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois. Oak Park is home to the largest collection of the architect's buildings and structures built between 1889 and 1913. This building was the home of the Wright family from 1889 to 1909 and was where Wright developed his prairie style of architecture.

I had read the book Loving Frank a few years ago - a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. While I did not have a great impression of this man after reading the book (creative genius - perhaps, but his private life was sure a mess), it was interesting to learn more about the creative process that drove him, see his designs up close and learn about the development of his prairie style of architecture. 

Wright hated too much "floating" furniture and so designed the house with clean lines and many built ins.

Window in bathroom designed to afford light but also privacy as well.

This bathroom was the only one in the house and was considered a luxury at the time.

                                                 

The nursery, which doubled as Wright's wife Catherine's sewing room.

An easy chair set into a little nook so she could sit and sew while the children napped or played

EVERYTHING was superbly designed, even the floor grates

The Drafting studio

Wright's office.

200-year-old gingko tree.

Walked past some really pretty homes in the area.

We learned an awful lot about design and saw how nature influenced so much of Wright's work. I highly recommend this tour if you're ever visiting the Chicago area and like learning about and wandering through old houses. 

A good day. Capped off the tour with a nice lunch at a local restaurant.

Fall and Quilts

While the rest of Chicago was downtown at the rally for the Chicago Cubs (Go Cubs!), I ventured over to the Chicago Botanic Garden for their annual Fine Art of Fiber quilt show. A much smaller crowd.

The quilts are by and large much more modern than the ones I make but it's always so much fun to see all the color and creativity.

Men looking at their phones instead of the quilts . . .

It's a great place for a quilt show. So much natural light.

It turned out to be a beautiful day. Two of my favorite things: walking around outside in my favorite season and looking at some lovely quilts. What a treat. Have a great weekend!