I blogged earlier about visiting some of Oregon’s wonderful lavender farms.
I made up a quick batch of cold process soap using some gorgeous dried lavender from the Lavender Thyme Herb Farm in Candy.
I used a very soothing blend of lavender and mint essential oils. I can’t wait for this soap to cure for several more weeks before trying it out!
The sweet scent is just perfect and delightful for everyday use.
Lavender Mint Soap with local Oregon lavender buds
I’m a member of the Carol Doak Yahoo group. She recently started (in May) a new mystery block-of-the-month (BOM) program for her group members. Why is it a mystery? Because we get one block each month and won’t know how the blocks fit together until the last month!!
The August block got posted a little bit early due to Carol’s teaching schedule – yippee for us!
I was able to work a bit on this block over the past couple of days and finished it this evening. I absolutely love the fun pattern in this block, and I think it works so well with my star-themed fabrics!
Paper piecing is so much fun, and I encourage you to give it a try if you haven’t already. Carol has some great books and DVDs to get you going. Plus, the gals on the yahoo group are really fun and have great advice!
Don’t you just love how simple triangles can combine to make such great blocks?
August Mystery Block
Happy paper piecing!
I have this great wooden light table that my grandfather made for me when I was in high school. I use it for many quilting and craft projects, including paper piecing and applique.
I realized that the table was too cluttered. I had rulers, rotary cutters, and writing implements all over the top of it. I kept pushing things to the side to make room to work on quilt blocks (using my wonderful combo Omnigrid cutting mat/ironing surface).
So a recent trip to IKEA became a hunt for a small organizer to hang above my light table!
I found a great set in the kitchen section called Fintorp. I purchased 1 rail, 2 sets of hooks, and 3 galvanized caddies.
Next, I decided to use my Cricut to cut some vinyl labels for each caddy.
Here’s the finished product organizer above the table:
Craft Room Organizer Above Light Box
Here’s a close-up:
Craft Room Organizer Close Up
I think these little buckets will really help me keep my cutting surface organized!
I recently made a batch of summer rose cold process soap. This soap is lightly scented and reminds me of taking an evening stroll in the summer through a rose garden.
Summer Rose Soaps
I decided to use some fun shapes for these soaps – a butterfly and 2 different flowers – and they look lovely in the guest bathroom. I added a tiny amount of red oxide to give the soaps a slight pink swirl throughout. I think they turned out rather well – what do you think?
Today, we went for a drive to visit some local area lavender fields. I wanted to get some dried lavender and some essential lavender oil to make some soap. I do sell my handmade cold process soap so if you’re interested in purchasing a bar or two, let me know!
First stop – Lavender Thyme Herb Farm in Canby.
We really enjoyed the gardens and lavender fields at this location. Ian loved all the butterflies, the walking path with the fun garden chairs, and walking over “Toe Biter Creek.” The lavender was beautiful! The fields were humming with many happy bees.
I purchased some dried lavender and enjoyed talking with the owner, Taffy. I plan to make up some lavender soaps and take them down to her to sell in her Potter’s Shed Shop.
Onwards to our second stop, Willakenzie Lavender Farm in Yamhill.
What another great location to visit! We were greeted by the friendly farm dog and one of the owners, Debbie, came over to say hi and introduce us to the farm.
With sweeping swatches of purple and views of the hills behind, this lavender farm has some great photo opportunities!
I purchased some lavender essential oil and enjoyed chatting with Debbie in her gift store. She has many wonderful lavender and alpaca items for sale here.
Speaking of alpacas, you can meet them at this farm while touring the gardens.
If you happen to be in Oregon in July, be sure to stop some lavender fields or, better yet, come out during the Lavender Festival. The year the dates are July 14-15.
I decided to get in a couple of hours of sewing today. I’ve been working on a batik pieced quilt for several months and wanted to finish the blocks.
My inspector is my big orange cat. He loves it when I spread out quilt blocks on the floor so he can examine the blocks up close. Since summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, my crafting room became warm pretty quickly.
As I spread out the blocks, my cat could barely crack open an eye to inspect my work. It took all his energy to remain on his cat couch for the remainder of the afternoon.
This spring, I had the opportunity to travel with my sister on our first ever quilting cruise! We went on the beautiful Allure of the Seas and had 3 days of classes while at sea. We made the gorgeous paper-pieced quilt called Tropical Delights. I finished about 1/3 of the quilt while on the cruise, and I finished it up at home over the past several months.
The bright colors in the quilt are very inspiring so I have the quilt hanging in my craft/sewing room.
Quilt from our Allure of the Seas adventure
Welcome to the quilted cat – a blog about quilting and craft projects (with maybe a little travel mixed in too). Glad that you are here!
NW Quilted Cat 