Birdhouse Quilt Blocks at Last

As promised, now that I have camera I am posting the birdhouse blocks I made while without a camera. Julie will be relieved, LOL.
But I have to start with my jigsaw puzzle. I finally completed it. There are supposed to be 504 very small pieces in this puzzle but if you look close there are only 503 - there is an empty spot! After all that time and work (I started it in Arcadia when I spent the night with my Aunt and then boxed it up and rebuilt it at home) there is a piece missing. Arrgggg! If was a challange and I am not sure if it is because I haven't done a puzzle in ages or if because there were only a few shapes in this puzzle so pieces could easily "fit" in the wrong spot - I have to go by fit and the printed design. A couple times I was at a standstill in an area before I realized one wrong piece had the whole thing off. The Dollar Tree store provided me with hours of entertainment for a mere buck.

Birdhouse block #1 - blues and yellows. I have always like that color combination. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to use my favorite fabric on the roof (a Japanese fabric with simple dragonflies on navy) and to use a funny yarn fabric for the house. Isn't it sweet?
#2: Julie suggested I look to nature for a color choice. It was a sunny, hot day when I read her comment. When I looked outside I saw blarring sun and lots of orange flowers in my green garden. Thanks for the suggest Julie! Oh, and when my friend and fellow micro quilter Carla moved from Kodiak she sent me some fun fabrics - one was the green fabric with ants. Can yolu see it? So funny.

#3: I wanted to add another bright birdhouse for balance. I chose fuschia. The background fabric is very pretty and makes the birdhouse look like it is snuggled in the garden.

#4 and final: This one looks much better in person than in this photo. The fabrics in this one are VERY special. First, I have hoarded the berry fabric and only used snippets at a time because I don't want to use it all up. It reminds me of Alaska with the blueberries and what looks very much like salmonberries. I have fond memories of berry picking but this blog is getting long enough. Will save those stories for archive posts. All the other fabrics in this are from Austria! When I lived in Kodiak a friend went to Austria (her hubby is a Native Austrian) and I asked her to pick out some traditional Austrian fabrics. The weight/feel (aka "hand") of these fabrics is marvelous. I don't know the thread count but it is superior to what I typically see in fabric and quilting stores here. It was a pleasure to sew.

Finally, a random shot in my house. This is the lamp in the guest room with a wall quilt showing in the background. New camera = crazy photos.

Vickie

I Have A New Camera.....And It's PINK!

Hot Pink actually. I LOVE it. It zooms in and out easily so I had no blurry photos today while I practiced with garden shots (will post those tomorrow). The flash comes on automatically too. Plus, it has the stablization feature for those of us with shaky hands. I could go on and on but I will stop by saying it is very thin and light because it doesn't use batteries.


Besides reading, this is what I did with some of my "spare" time without my camera and blogging. (Actually Dad was here much of down time)

This is last photo from old camera and I saw trying to see if I could save it. It still takes photos but you can't see the window to see photos or to erase the memory card.

First photo today was of Eddie sitting on the ottomon with my feet as I read the instructions. This photo taken while the camera was charging. The flast went on and off automatically as needed :)

If I figure out how, I am going to do a survey of this lamp. I bought a pair of these. They are art glass and my husband thinks they are the ugliest lamps he has ever seen. I think they are quite artistic, bold, and different. The few people who have been inmy house and seen them either love them or hate them. I think with some new paint on the wall they won't seem so bold. They are great because the bases have a nightlight in them and they can "glow" when you turn them on. It's been about a year and hub still isn't crazy about them but I spent way too much on them to get rid of them. I could probably get glass paint but I want to get other people's opinions first - especially creative people who are not afraid of a little color, LOL. ***UPDATE** The survey is up and running. Please vote!