Taking a Break for the Holidays!

I am going to take a couple of weeks off for the holidays.  We have company coming...!

See you in a couple of weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving and Hanukkah!

Leigh

On My Travels – Funny Signs



Tram to Reinfels Castle



Here are some of the interesting and funny signs that we saw while in Germany.

I love the way the woman’s hair is flying out behind her, and look at her shape! 

We saw this sign on our way through the town of Moselkern on our way up to Berg Eltz, a castle in a valley.  This castle has never been destroyed and one of the families still use it as a country home.

We saw this sign in Moselkern also.  Look the children even have freckles!  These are much more interesting than our two color signs in marigold and black!



And Moped also



This sign was next to a sign that said something like…walking lane.  In other words; a private lane with no car access and not a thru street.  So the two signs together mean, walking lane and mopeds allowed!  Or something like that.

The Germans who saw me taking pictures of their signs thought I was really funny.  They would understand if they saw our signs and compared the two.

If you run across funny signs, send me a picture and I might do another post sharing everyone's humorous signs!

Happy quilting,

Leigh

On My Travels…Open Air Market in Germany



Flower stall in open air market, Dusseldorf, Germany



One of my favorite parts of my visit to Dussledorf was the open air market on Carlsplatz. The flower stalls nestled next to meat vendors, fruit & vegetable vendors, basket makers, hand-made candy vendors and more.  It was a wonderful feast for the eyes, full of color and texture.  I hope you enjoy the photos.

 

Open air market, Dusseldorf, Germany



I also loved the brot backerie (the bread bakery) next to the market.  The window was full of a variety of breads.  The bread in Germany is wonderful!  It comes in all shapes and sizes, is always baked fresh and is full of seeds and nuts and whole grains. 

 

 

I will never forget the conversation with a German woman in front of the bakery window.  She came up next to me and turned to share the view of the window with me.  There came a long conversation in German, while I tried to remember how to say that I only understand English, stated in German.  She promptly switched to English and shared her conversation with me. 

It wasn’t what she said that I enjoyed, it was the fact that the conversation was one I could have had with anyone, anywhere.  It just reinforced the fact that no matter the language, or country, we are all people with the same problems and daily cares.

Would you believe 9 different kinds of mushrooms?



The Germans constantly impressed me with their fabulous English and their ability to switch from one language to another seamlessly.  They constantly apologized for their English, but it was terrific. 

No matter where we were, there were people listening to our English conversations.  Be careful what you say, people are listening!

Happy quilting,

Leigh

On My Travels…Autumn in Germany



Rothenburg ob Tauber



Street in Bacharach

 

We just got back from a business/vacation trip to Germany.  My husband attended a plastics conference in Dusseldorf, Germany and I went along! 

After the conference we took vacation and headed south on the train to Köln and then on to Bacharach on the Rhine River. 

I thought I would share some Fall views of Germany with you.

 

Dusseldorf, Germany



After Bacharach we headed even farther south to Rothenburg ob Tauber.



Dusseldorf, Germany



I am going to be sharing some of the photos I took in the next few posts.  Hope you enjoy them!



Grapes Above Bacharach



Restaurant on the Rhine, Dusseldorf



Take some time for  yourself today.



Castle Garden, Rothenburg, Germany



Happy quilting,

Leigh

Using Photos as Inspiration…

I use photos as inspiration for a variety of quilts that I make.  Sometimes I use the whole photo, sometimes just a part of a group of photos.  Since I live in a terrific area to get photographs of birds I make a lot of bird quilts.

Here is a green heron photo and a quilt featuring another green heron.  These are smaller birds than the great blue herons and more compact.  They like to fish in the canals here in Florida and they hide from the fish by ducking their heads and by standing very still.  Like all herons here, they also eat small lizards.





I will be giving my Using Photographs as Inspiration for Quilters Lecture to the West Pasco Quilters in Hudson, FL on November 21^st. 

The following day I will be teaching a workshop based on one of the quilts in my book called Harvest Moon.  See photo below. 

Check out the West Pasco Quilters here.

See you there!

Happy quilting,

Leigh

Halloween is Coming…What or who will you be?





Last year was my first Halloween at the library and the first time I dressed up since I was a kid!  I decided to go as a character in a children’s book; after all I do work in the library. 

Remember Curious George?  I went as the “Man in the Yellow Hat”, the zookeeper that is Curious George’s friend and caregiver.  With a stuffed Curious George attached to my leg and bobbing his head when I moved across the library, I got a lot of attention and laughs.  The little ones hugged and kissed George and tried to coerce him from me!  It was a big hit and I got to wear my cowboy boots to work!

It is fun having Grandkids!  This year one will be Little Red Riding Hood, another Jake from the Disney Pirates, and there’s a possible Princess in the making.  Wish I could see them in person.  Ah well, I will make do with pictures.

So, now I have to figure out what to be this year…hmmm…maybe “Where’s Waldo?”  It’s funny how I seem to pick male characters.

What are you going to be?...

Leigh

On My Design Wall…



Deciding on placement of Egret



I’ve been working on this landscape quilt featuring an egret in flight on and off again for a year now.  I have hand appliquéd most of the egret…yes I said HAND appliqué.  I got stalled out on the piece when it came to painting the tree trunks.  My inspiration is a combination of the photos below.

 

We get lots of photos of egrets standing in water and fishing…no movement.  To get the egret to fly my husband Bill stood near it and suddenly flapped his arms while moving toward it!!  Wish I had two cameras, one to shoot the bird and one to shoot my husband!  What would I do without him!

A photo of cypress trees inspired the tree trunks that border the right side of my quilt.  I used undyed silk noil as the base for my trees, thinking rough bark.  I then totally ruined that rough effect by painting wonder under and applying it to the noil, making it a smooth surface.  I then applied painted papers, fabrics and I am currently hand embroidering the surface to add texture. 



Tree trunks ready to
add to background



This will be a long term project!!  The background photo of the blog is a close-up of the embroidery on the tree trunk.



Spider Lily



This photo is inspiration for the foreground of the piece.  I have a drawing and fabric pulled for this and that is all.

I will return to this piece after it is farther along so you can see how it is turning out!

Happy quilting,

Leigh

Interactive Library Displays to Connect with Children…



I thought I would do a post about my other job this time.  I work part time at a local public library.  Part of my job is to do all the displays in the Youth Services Department (children’s dept.)  This includes 3 bulletin boards, a large glass case set up to look like a house and a display case behind the YS Reference desk.  The more that I do these displays the faster and more creative I become. 

  

The glass house has to be changed out every one to two months, so it keeps me hopping!

  

My latest bulletin boards have been interactive.  What I mean is that instead of being only something to look at these encourage children to participate.  The picture is of a bulletin board I did inspired by Eric Carle’s book A House for Hermit Crab.  I put a file folder below it with a “Can You Find It?” exercise the children can do.

This is an Upstart purchased bulletin board with a dragon head and scales.  The kids fill out a scale with their first name, age, and favorite book.   I want displays to create a sense of community in the library for children and their parents.  It gives them a good feeling every time they walk by the bulletin board that they contributed to.  They feel a part of the children’s department at the library.  That is a really good thing!

I would love to hear about other great library displays you see.  Send emails and photos to:  leighemcdonald@adventuresinquilting.com.  It might be in a future post!  Be sure and let me know if I can use your photos on the blog.

Happy quilting,

Leigh

Inspiration Behind the Pattern…

Leaves of Hope is a pattern I published after making a quilt for a friend who was fighting breast cancer.  I loved the quilt so much that I wanted to share it in pattern form.  Since it was inspired by my friend Lisa and her struggle, I decided for each pattern I sell directly $1 would be donated to the American Cancer Society.

A close-up of the blocks from one of the quilts made from the pattern.  This is the quilt featured in Quilt Sampler Magazine and hanging at StitchCraft Quilt Shop in Boca Raton, FL.

Check my website: www.adventuresinquilting.com for other patterns and my book and for information on ordering Leaves of Hope.

Happy quilting!

Leigh

Welcome to my new blog!

My goal in starting this blog is to share what inspires me to create.  I might share photos of nature, projects in process, displays I have created at the library.  Anything and everything that I think you may be interested in.

I hope you will be inspired and that all of us will keep creating.  I may even share some fun travel experiences from teaching around the country.

The September issue of Quilt Sampler Magazine features StitchCraft Quilt Shop in Boca Raton, FL and has a couple of photos of the quilt made from my pattern:  Leaves of Hope.   They did a nice write-up about me.

Patterns can be purchased from my website:  www.adventuresinquilting.com.

  Leaves of Hope, $10.00 (with postage and handling).

That's all for my first post.  Happy quilting!!

Leigh