Cara T. Rabbit

Last Friday I taught a class in the garage of the store's 1912 house. I added an extra class for this bunny without checking the class schedule and Tina was already teaching in the shop......so Kathy and I moved all the antiques around and squeezed in as many as we could!

Beth and Karen were such good sports that they moved out under the picnic table for awhile and stuffed and hand stitched ....

Here is Sandra with her green bunny. We all loved it. She made her shoes out of the trim from a recycled sweater!.....and check out her plaid wool nose.

and here are Kay and Andrea with theirs....Kay has hers all finished and Andrea is well on her way. I taught it on Saturday too (in the classroom this time) and there were rabbits of every color you could imagine!

With all these bunnies showing up, it looks like spring is right around the corner!

Antique stitching

Years ago Megan and I went to visit a quilt shop in Battle Ground, Washington. It was called Cottons and was in an old church. On the floor of the shop was a pile of old quilts that Deb the owner had just purchased. She hadn't even had time to display them. I couldn't resist digging through them (with her permission of course) I love old crazy quilts. For those of you who have done Wool Crazy that shouldn't be too big of a surprise..:) At the bottom of the stack was this quilt....not a crazy....but with wonderful crazy stitches. I had to have it and the price was great! It went home with me and is one of my favorites. It hangs in our bedroom, so I get to see it every morning when I wake up!



Here is a little bit closer shot.....Some of the fabric has seen better days, but all in all it is in pretty good shape. I am a firm believer that you should enjoy your antique quilts and we use ours to wrap up in on the couch and on our beds and walls.

I am off to teach a class today at the Loft....We'll have bunnies everywhere.

Have a happy weekend.....Jo Ann

Scattered Hearts

I got the nicest note yesterday from Patti Gagliardi. She sent me a photo of the runner she made after seeing my Scattered Hearts in Primitive Quilts and Projects. She wrote "I cut all the hearts free hand and stiched them all so that the hearts are touching each other signifying how all our hearts touch each other." I loved it and wanted you all to see it too! Thanks Patti!

Winter Crazy

Last night I met with one of my ongoing wool crazy groups. We always start class by sharing what we have been working on. Diane one of my great students from Ramona shared her winter block. Instead of making a large quilt, she has made four smaller ones. She is busily stitching borders for them all....but this is the first one completed. I have shared her work before, but thought you'd like to see it with the finishing touches!

I am stitching away today on some projects for Quilt Market.....I had been thinking about going and decided if I wanted to really keep busy that this would be a great way to do just that.

Hope you are all doing well............Jo Ann

Peg's Quilt

Peg Finnegan shared her Wool Crazy with me the other day. She entered it into the San Angelo Rodeo and Stock Show Crafts Fair and won "BEST OF SHOW"!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS Peg! It looks wonderful....and I am so glad that you shared it with me....and let me show off your work to everyone else.

Hope you all find time to go a little crazy this weekend.....Jo Ann

Keeping busy

I have found that keeping myself busy folding patterns for shipping and finishing up on class samples has been a great way to keep me going. Sophie helped me stitch on the piece seen above when I was still in Oregon. It is called "Carrots". When I would put my needle in for a stitch she helped me pull it back out (and usually pulled the thread out of the needle too)...It made for slow going, but we both had fun doing it.


This bunny is called Cara T. Rabbit.... She is the one on the stitchery too. Stitching is definitely therapy for the soul....If you are going through a bad time too, why not try some. It might be just what you need.

A note of thanks

I wanted to thank all of you for all your kind thoughts and words that you have sent me the last few weeks. Throughout Megan's illness I have felt so supported by all of you....and I so appreciate it.

We had a beautiful mass for Megs on January 16th....The Mullaly, Peabody and Gianotti families are all large and it was wonderful to be surrounded by them. Megan's friends flew in from all over the country to say their goodbyes. She had touched so many people in her short life and it was great to hear their stories and share their memories.

I returned from Portland last Friday night. I had stayed on with John and the kids for awhile. He has always been a "hands-on" Dad and he and Megan shared all parenting responsibilities, so he is doing fine with all the kid tasks. The kids talk all the time about Mom being an angel... The photo above is of them on Megan's bench. She wanted to have a bench that Sophie and Nick could come and sit and visit her .....and we found this one with a view of Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.

I wish that I could write notes of each of you. Know that I have read all of your messages and have been touched.....Hugs to you....Jo Ann