Wee Surprise Wednesday

Now well past the middle of "Floss Week" -- and the first part of my Blog Anniversary celebrations, I've done a random draw from all commenters for February 8 through early this morning.  As is only fitting, this wee surprise draw is for this pretty little stitchery kit, which includes the pattern, fabric, threads and beads:

Prickly Pear Seed Scissors Stand
by Jeannette Douglas

Using Random Number Generator, the name of the winner is Linda A. Miller!  Congratulations, Linda, my cyber-friend!  I'll be in touch to get your snail mail address and send this little treasure off to you.

Of  Course There are WIPs...

As I'm a couple of days overdue for "Design Wall Monday", let me show you what was on my wall yesterday morning at this time:

Two more miniatures are underway.  On the top is "On Forever", based on a prairie highway photo from a trip home from Lethbridge ('way south in Alberta) a couple of years ago.  On the bottom, its' "Autumn by the Slough", from a photo taken last year just outside of my wee hamlet.  Both are constructed from commercial cottons, and will have some thread painting and hand-stitching as well as the quilting, which began yesterday.  I should have them ready for a "Finish on Friday" post.  :-)

Meanwhile, the beading on "Tree Line" continues.  I was about to shop for beads Monday in Lacombe, when a woman in our knitting circle, who is moving, brought me a treasure -- including 3 packs of the very autumnal colours I need for "Tree Line".  Whoo hoo!  A gracious gift indeed.

And there is a bit of knitting.  Over the weekend I finished yet another Chunky Cable Hat for our charity tree.  This one took just under one 50-gram ball of Paton's Diana (acrylic and nylon) -- or 25% of the amount donated to our knitting group.  I'm now wondering whether to make 3 more of the same or to do something a bit different with the rest.  Although this yarn is "fluffy", it still shows off cables nicely, don't you think?

The photo shows the hat modelled on my "hat form" -- a 1 kg. jar that once held peanut butter!  :-)

And now I must get back to those miniatures...so will link this up with WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network.  My lunch plans include checking out the other participants as I munch.  "See" you there!

Sharing the Art

My cyber-friend and quilting colleague, Linda Miller, recently donated a couple of small pieces to the newly-created Texas Quilt Museum. I too answered the call, and this week mailed a trio of quilted post-cards to Karey down in La Grange.

I took them out of the frames in which I'd placed them for the Lacombe Art Show last spring, popped them in an envelope and was able to send them easily across the border as letter mail.  I hope these little cards will bring delight to a purchaser and add a wee bit to the new museum's coffers.  :-)

P.S.  The SAQA 2011 Benefit Auction closed yesterday.  Over $51,000 USD was raised from the sale of 277 donated quilts.  What a wonderful way to spread the joy of the art and craft of quilting!